The Supreme Court observed that under Hindu law and marriage customs, a woman’s gotra -her ancestral lineage- changes after marriage, as it began hearing a challenge to a provision in the Hindu Succession Act (HSA) that directs the property of a childless widow to her husband’s family rather than her parents.

Justice BV Nagarathna, the sole woman judge on the bench and in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India, referred to the concept of kanyadaan, saying, “When a woman marries, her gotra also changes. Marriage rituals, especially in South India, declare that she is moving from one gotra to another."

She added that the Supreme Court did not wish to “break something which has existed for thousands of years" by its ruling.

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