Madras High Court: A Muslim Child born to an unmarried couple is not a legal successor

In a recent matter, the Madras High Court has held that a child born to a Muslim couple who are not married yet is not considered as a legitimate child under Mahomedan Law.

In this matter, the issue before the court was that a father has executed a Will giving all the property to his second wife and three sons. Out of these three sons, one of these three sons, one son was born before they couple got married.

The bench comprising of Justice R. Subbiah and Justice P. Velmurugan quoted from Muslim law and held that the illegitimate child is considered to be the child of the mother only and such a child can inherit only from the mother and its relations.

Therefore, in the present matter, the bench ruled that Shahul Hameed is not a legitimate child of Mohammed Ansar, he does not come under the category of the legal heir. Thus, the Shahul Hameed is entitled 27 to 1/3 rd share from the Will mentioned property, 1/3 share = 20/60. The plaintiffs and the defendants 1 to 3 are entitled to their respective portion of share from the remaining portion of 2/3 shares = 40/60.