JINIA KEOTIN vs KUMAR SITARAM MANJHI

The Supreme Court ruled that under Section 16(3) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, children born from a void marriage are not entitled to a share in ancestral coparcenary property. The Court upheld the lower court's decision that the plaintiff is entitled to a 1/8th share in the coparcenary property after the death of Sahadeo Manjhi, with the distribution of shares among his heirs being clarified. The appeal by the second wife and her children was dismissed, affirming the legal principle that void marriages do not confer inheritance rights in ancestral property.