DHARMA SHAMRAO AGALAWE vs PANDURANG MIRAGU AGALAWE & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that under Section 12(c) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, a person adopted by a Hindu widow cannot claim a share in joint family property that had devolved on a sole surviving coparcener prior to the adoption. The Court clarified that joint family property remains joint even when it passes to a sole surviving coparcener, and any alienation made by the coparcener before the adoption is valid. The appeal was dismissed, affirming the lower courts' decisions to grant partition and possession to the adopted son and widow.