# One Heir Cannot Sell the Whole Inherited Flat: the Supreme Court Draws the Line **In Darubai v. Kamalabai, decided 1 June 2026, the Supreme Court held that when a Hindu man dies without a will, his heirs take his self-acquired property as tenants-in-common with fixed, separate shares. No single heir can pose as the family manager and sell the entire property. For an NRI who has inherited a share of a flat, this is the ruling that protects your share.** Every NRI with property back home has heard the line: "leave it to the family, one of us will handle the sale." This judgment sets a limit on what that handling can do. ## What the court decided The dispute ran more than fifty years over the self-acquired land and houses of a man named Dajiba. After his death, his widow and his four daughters from another marriage each held a one-fifth share. The widow sold part of the property while claiming to act as the "karta," the traditional manager of a joint Hindu family, on the ground of legal necessity. A bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Augustine George Masih rejected that. Property inherited under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, devolves by succession, not by survivorship. Each heir owns a definite, separate share as a tenant-in-common. The question of karta-ship does not arise just because the property came from a paternal ancestor. A co-owner can deal with their own share and nothing more. The widow had the right to sell her one-fifth, not the other four-fifths. ## What it means for an NRI heir Read the ruling as a shield, not a sword. - If you inherited a share in a flat in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, or Gurgaon, a relative in India cannot sell the whole flat by declaring themselves head of the family. Your share stays yours until you sign it away. - A buyer gets clean title to the whole property only with every co-owner on the deed, in person or through a valid registered power of attorney from each. A sale by one heir alone transfers that heir's fraction and leaves the buyer in a co-ownership they did not want. - The rule cuts both ways. You also cannot sell the entire flat on your own. Moving the whole asset needs all co-heirs aligned, which is the exact deadlock that traps so many inherited flats. This is a clarification of long-settled law, not a new tax or a new form. It changes nothing about how the property is valued or what tax a sale attracts. It changes who has the authority to sign. ## What to do We report the ruling here. We do not draft your family settlement or give legal advice on your specific title. The practical path for a co-owned inherited flat is to establish who holds what share, get every co-owner to agree, and record that agreement. The mechanics of a stuck co-ownership are in [the co-heir deadlock guide](/guides/co-heir-deadlock-inherited-property-nri). The documents that prove your share in the first place, the succession certificate versus the legal heir certificate, are set out in [succession vs legal heir certificate](/guides/succession-vs-legal-heir-certificate-nri). If you have just inherited and do not yet know your position, start with [inheriting property in India as an NRI](/guides/inheriting-property-india-nri). ## FAQ **Can one sibling sell our inherited flat without the others?** No for the whole flat. Under Darubai v. Kamalabai, each heir of a Hindu who dies without a will holds a separate, fixed share. A single heir can sell only their own share, not the shares of the other co-owners. **Does this ruling apply to a flat left by a will?** No. The judgment is about intestate succession under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, where there is no will. A valid will directs the property as the owner chose. **I am an NRI. Do I need to be in India to sell my share?** Not in person if you grant a valid, registered power of attorney to someone in India for the sale. The buyer of the whole property still needs the consent of every co-owner or their attorney. ## Inherited a share and stuck across a time zone? 66 MG Road helps NRI owners hold, protect, and eventually deal with inherited flats without flying back for every signature. We operate in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Gurgaon. See [inheriting property in India](/guides/inheriting-property-india-nri) or [request a proposal](/proposal). *66 MG Road newsdesk* ## Sources - LiveLaw, Hindu Succession Act: After Intestate Succession, One Co-Heir Cannot Alienate Shares Of Others Acting As Karta: [https://www.livelaw.in/supreme-court/hindu-succession-act-after-intestate-succession-one-co-heir-cannot-alienate-shares-of-others-acting-as-karta-supreme-court-536471](https://www.livelaw.in/supreme-court/hindu-succession-act-after-intestate-succession-one-co-heir-cannot-alienate-shares-of-others-acting-as-karta-supreme-court-536471) - LiveLaw judgment, 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 581, Darubai & Anr. versus Kamalabai & Ors.: [https://www.livelaw.in/amp/sc-judgments/2026-livelaw-sc-581-darubai-anr-versus-kamalabai-ors-536476](https://www.livelaw.in/amp/sc-judgments/2026-livelaw-sc-581-darubai-anr-versus-kamalabai-ors-536476) - Verdictum, Darubai & Anr v. Kamalabai 2026 INSC 613: Property inherited u/s 8 HSA does not automatically assume coparcenary character: [https://www.verdictum.in/supreme-court/darubai-anr-v-kamalabai-2026-insc-613-karta-ship-section-8-hindu-succession-act-property-1615232](https://www.verdictum.in/supreme-court/darubai-anr-v-kamalabai-2026-insc-613-karta-ship-section-8-hindu-succession-act-property-1615232) - Law Trend, Heirs Under Section 8 HSA Hold Property As Tenants-in-Common, Not Joint Tenants: [https://lawtrend.in/heirs-under-section-8-hsa-hold-property-as-tenants-in-common-not-joint-tenants-stepmother-could-not-sell-entire-property-as-karta-supreme-court/](https://lawtrend.in/heirs-under-section-8-hsa-hold-property-as-tenants-in-common-not-joint-tenants-stepmother-could-not-sell-entire-property-as-karta-supreme-court/) ## Compare and cost - [The NRI Property Management Companies in India: A Comparison You Can Check](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-india) - [What NRI Property Management Costs in India: The Four Models and What Hides in Each](/guides/nri-property-management-cost-india) - [NoBroker NRI Services Review: What the Pages Promise and What They Leave Out](/guides/nobroker-nri-services-review) --- Source: [https://66mgroad.com/guides/nri-inheritance-tenants-in-common-supreme-court-jul-2026](https://66mgroad.com/guides/nri-inheritance-tenants-in-common-supreme-court-jul-2026) ยท 66 MG Road. Full LLM brief: https://66mgroad.com/llms.txt