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The laws that deal with the distribution of assets of a deceased individual are compiled as the Laws of Succession. These include the sequence in which one person succeeds to the property of a deceased person in preference to another or one person after another, or any one person in particular shares with any other person.
"Slayer's rule" has become a commonly followed doctrine in states like the USA and UK. It is a rule that prohibits any individual from inheriting property from the person they murder. However, the validity of this rule in the Indian Constitution is rather unknown. In this note, we will analyze the applicability of Slayer's rule from the perspective of the Indian Constitution.
The legal principles governing property inheritance have been compiled in The Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Act establishes a uniform set of rules that mentions the circumstances and conditions that could disqualify an heir from inheriting his property.
This Act clearly mentions that if any person is found guilty of murder or abetment of murder, he/she/they will have to forfeit their right to inherit the victim's property. This disqualification is mentioned in Section 25 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which further prohibits the murderer to inherit any property too (apart from the victim's property).
Section 25 disqualifies the murderer from the inheritance but it doesn't say anything about the family of the murderer. In the judgment of Vellikannu vs. R. Singaperumal and Ors, the Hon'ble Supreme Court stated that any murderer shall not be regarded as the stock of a fresh line of descent and that person will be non-existent among the line of heirs. This signifies that the family of the murderer (wife, son, or daughter) will not inherit any property.
Some similar laws get mentioned in the Muslim personal laws too. According to the Sunni Law, an individual will face disqualification from his property if he murders another person, whether intentionally or by mistake, negligence, or accident. Intention becomes essential in the Shia Law as it does not debar a person from inheriting his property if the death happened unintentionally.
In a nutshell, a murderer cannot inherit any property. The legislation is quite clear in stating that a murderer shall never get the status of a valid heir. However, the status of his family in the procedure of inheritance remains vague and ambiguous. The law has stated no clear provision that allows or prohibits the family of a murderer from inheriting his property. This further adds to the unsure validity of the line of heirs that will arise from the murderer.
For a more detailed understanding, refer to the" Vellikannu vs. R. Singaperumal and Ors" case study by clicking the case below.