GIANI RAM & ORS. vs RAMJI LAL & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 does not retrospectively alter the rights of reversioners established by prior decrees, specifically in relation to ancestral property alienation. The Court ruled that female heirs under Punjab Customary Laws could not challenge the alienation made by a male owner, and thus, the claim of the female heirs was barred by Section 8 of the Punjab Custom (Power to Contest) Act, 1920. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision that the property reverted to the estate of the alienor upon his death, rejecting the preliminary objections raised by the alienees.