A Mitakshara joint family consists of father F, two minor sons S1 and S2, and a major daughter D. After…

Under Section 6(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (as amended by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005), the daughter of a coparcener is by birth a coparcener in her own right in the same manner as a son. In Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1, the Supreme Court held that this conferral of coparcenary status is retroactive and applies by birth irrespective of whether the father died before or after 9 September 2005. Because a daughter is a coparcener with the same rights and liabilities as a son, the senior-most major coparcener—including an adult daughter, particularly where the male coparceners are minors—can act as the Karta of the Mitakshara joint family in her own right without requiring the consent of other coparceners (Sujata Sharma v. Manu Gupta, (2016) 226 DLT 647).