Can ancestor's property be sold?

 Can ancestor's property be sold?

Property is defined as a thing belonging to someone; possessions collectively, considering it is an important area, it has some special laws known as property law. Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property and personal property.

Property can be tangible or intangible. Intangible property includes intellectual property rights. Property can be exchanged through contract law and if the property is violated one could sue under tort law to protect it. Property laws are related to principles, policies, and rules by which property disputes are resolved and which property transactions may be structured.

Napoleonic code was among the first government acts of modern times to introduce the notion of absolute ownership into statute, protection of personal property was present in medieval Islamic law and jurisprudence, and in more feudalist forms in the common law courts of medieval and early modern England.

Under the Indian laws, the assets earned by a Hindu or inherited from anyone except his father, grandfather, or great grandfather are treated as personal assets.  The assets which are received from the ancestor are known ancestral property. 

There is a huge difference between ancestral property and self-acquired property, ancestral property under Hindu law is known as coparcenary property. In 2005, after the amendment girls were given rights over the ancestral property, so that receive equal rights with male members known as coparceners. On the other hand, the self-acquired property is purchased by the person from his property.

The question arises, can one sell the ancestral property as Karta?  to understand this question one needs to understand the meaning of Karta. Karta is considered the head of the family, Karta has the power to manage the family and decide the assets of the family. He might have ample rights but he doesn't have complete independence. 

Some provision does state that Karta can sell the ancestral property of HUFs mentioned in mitakshara. He can sell the property in the stress of distress, for the benefit or sake of the family and Karta can sell for religious purposes.

The second question, arises is that can one sell the ancestral property as a coparcener, a coparcener is free to sell his share in the ancestral property for selling, the coparcener needs to take out his share in the property. To know one's share the coparcener should file for the partition at any point of time, it is the coparcener's choice to decide as to when he wants to conclude that status of the jointness and get separate in the property.

This concludes that Karta can sell the ancestral property but the coparcener can sell after the partition of the property.