Did the John Vallamattam case also involve the issue of gender justice ?
No. This case related to the Indian Succession Act which is a comprehensive law of intestate and testamentary succession. Enacted in 1925, it was not a new law and had only consolidated various statutory laws on the subject then in force, including the first Indian Succession Act and the Parsi Succession Act, both of 1865, the Hindu Wills Act of 1870 and a host of laws on wills and estate administration. Incorporation of such diverse laws into a single statute made it very complex in its applicability. The law of wills under this Act applies to the Hindus subject to special conditions specified in a schedule but is not applicable to the Muslims at all, and selectively governs other communities. This irritating lack of uniformity in its application may have prompted the Chief Justice to remind the government about the need for a uniform civil code. What was the specific issue involved? Section 118 of the Act restricts the freedom of making a will for religious purposes — if the maker o
