In Pawan Kumar Pathak vs. Mohan Prasad, the Supreme Court held that an adopted son will be entitled to inherit his father’s property like a natural son.
Division Bench comprising of Justices A.K. Sikri and R.K. Agrawal stated this in an appeal which aroused out of a suit filed by an adopted son, who claimed his right to inherit his father’s property who died intestate. A relative stated that the appellant is not a natural son and hence filed an application and brought an
record adoption deed registered around forty years ago. The Trial Court dismissed the application and stated that it is an inadmissible evidence. The High Court also refused to entertain the matter. The adopted son then approached the Appex Court.
The Appex Court then referred to Section 3(57) of the General Clauses Act, 1897. This section says that “ ‘son’ in the case of any one whose personal law permits adoption, shall include an adopted son”.
The Bench said that once the law recognizes adopted son to be a known son then it would be sufficient to lay the claim of inheritance on that basis.