FAMILYLAW –I

HINDULAW

Pr
epar
edby:
Shivamur
thyB.
A.L.
,LL.
M.
Lectur
er
M.H.Coll
egeofLaw
Ramanagar
am

Not
e:ForI
nter
nal
Cir
cul
ati
onOnl
y

1
 CONTENTS
UNI
T–I PageNo:
3to16

I
ntr
oducti
on–conceptoft heDhar
ma–Sour ceofHinduLaw–
Moder
nandAnci ent
-Impor
tanceofDharmaShast
raonLegislat
ion–
TwoPri
nci
palSchoolsofHi
nduLaw–Appl i
cat
ionofHinduLaw.

UNI
T–I
I PageNo:
17t
o33

Marr
iageandKinship–Ev oluti
onoft heInst
ituti
onofMar ri
age
andfamil
y–LawPer iort
oHi ndumar ri
ageAct–ADet ai
ledstudyof
Hindumar r
iageAct,1955–Mat rimonialRemedies–Mai nt
enance
andAlimony;CustomaryPracti
cesandlegislat
ive Provi
si
onsr el
ati
ng
todowryprohibi
ti
on.

UNI
T-I
II PageNo:
34t
o54

Hi
nduundi vi
dedf amil
y–Mi t
akshar
ajointfamily–f or
mat i
on
andincident
s–pr opertyunderbothschools–Kar tha:hi
sposi ti
on,
Powers,Pr i
vi
leges and obl
igat
ions – Debt
s – Doct r
ine ofPious
obl
igati
on – Par t
it
ion and Reunion – Reli
gious and Char i
table
Endowment .

UNI
T–I
V PageNo:
55t
o71

Inheri
tance and successi on – Hi st
ori
cal per
spect
ive of
traditi
onalHi ndul aw rel
ati
ngt oinheri
tance– A detai
l
edst udyof
Hi ndusuccessi onact,1956.Stri
dhana–Woman’ spr
operty–Recent
Stat eandCent ralAmendment stoHi ndusuccessi
onAct ;Gi
ftsand
testament arysuccession–wi l
l
s.

UNI
T–V PageNo:
72t
o86

Lawr el
ati
ngtoHi nduMinori
tyandGuardianship:Ki
ndsofGuardians;
Duties&Power sofGuardi
ans;Adet ai
ledst udyofHi nduadopti
on
and Maintenance Act
,1956;Mai nt
enance:Tr adi
ti
onalRight
s and
RightsunderHinduAdopti
on&Mai nt
enanceAct1956.

2
 UNI
T–I

I
ntroducti
on–conceptoft
heDhar ma–Sour ceofHi
ndu
Law–Moder nandAnci
ent-I
mpor tanceofDharma
ShastraonLegisl
ati
on–TwoPr i
ncipalSchoolsofHi
ndu
Law–Appli
cat
ionofHinduLaw.

I
ntr
oduct
ion
HinduLawhasav eryol
dancestry.ItwasgivenbyHinduseersandsages
whoaf
terthei
rlongpenanceandmedi tat
iondiscover
edcertai
nrul
esofconduct
whi
ch,
accordi
ngt ot
hem.Ar enecessar
yforpeacefulco-
exi
stenceofsoci
ety
.

Lawwasi dent
if
ywithDharmaandwassupposedt ohaveitsori
ginf
rom
godi
tself
.TheHi nduseersandsagesregardedthelaw asrev
elati
onsofGod
andt
herefor
eitwasgivent
hehighestr
especti
nthesociet
y.

Accordi
ngtoDharmashast
rast
herear efourgoalsofhumanlif
e,Art
ha,
Dharma,KamaandMoksha.Moksha,thati
s,sal
vati
onistheult
imat
egoal.Pr
ior
t
oat t
ainmentofMokshamanhast oundergothreeotherst
agesofhumanlif
e,
i
.e.
,Art
ha,DharmaandKama.Dharmastandsforemost.

Hi
ndusocialstruct
urewasbasedonVar naVy avstha,i
.e.
,castesystem.
Therearefourcastes,namely
,Brahmin,Kshatr
iya,VaishyaandSudr a,thefir
st
threeofwhichweresupposedtoberegenerateclasses.AccordingtoSukraNi t
i,
Guna,KarmaandSwabhav aaret
hecriter
iaforthedivisi
onofsoci et
yint
ot hese
fourcl
asses.

Accordingtot heShastr
icconceptofHindulife,i
thasbeenconsidered
thattheav er
agel i
feofahumanbei ngwasofhundr edy earstobedivi
dedinto
fourstages,i
.e.,
twenty-
fi
veyearsf
oreach.Thisdivi
sionofli
fewasrel
atedtothe
divi
sionofl i
feintofourAshramasas–Br ahmacharya,Gri
hast
ha,Vanapr
astha
andSany asAshr am.

AccordingtoourDhar mashastras,thefi
rsttwenty-
fiveyearsofagewer e
cal
ledtheBr ahmachar y
a–Ashr ama.Duringthisperi
odani ndi
vidualisexpected
togainlearningundert heguidanceandcont r
olofaGur u.Af t
erlearningVedas
andothersci encesduringthi
sper i
odandhav i
ngbeenbl essedbyhi spr eceptor
hisBrahmachar ya-Ashram camet oanend.Thuswi t
ht hecompl eti
oni fthe
twenty
-fi
fthyear,heenteredthesecondst ageofli
fethati
sknownasGr ihastha–
Ashram.

Nextaf
tert
he Gr
ihast
ha-
Ashr
ama,t
he t
hir
d st
age was t
ermed as

3
Vanaprasth–Ashr ama.Att hisstage,t
hehusbandandwifel
efttheworl
dlyl
ife,
detachedthemselvesfrom thef amilyandusuallywentt
oforestfordevot
ing
thei
rtimeinwor shiporupasana.Thel aststageofhumanli
fewasknownas
Sanyasa–Ashr am.I nt hi
sAshr am onehadt ogi
veupever
yt hi
ngwhichwas
worldl
y.Itwasal i
feofcompl et
erenunciat
ion.

Conceptoft
heDhar
ma

Thewor dDharmaisaSanskr i
texpr
ession.Itcomesf rom theroot“Dhru”.
Dhrumeanst ohold.Consequent l
ythatwhichholdsi sDharma.Theexpr ession
Dharmai softhewidestimport.TheHindulegalsystem i
sembeddedi nDharma,
andHi ndulaw isabr anchofDhar ma.Sincet hereisnocor respondingwor d,
writ
esJoi sinhistreati
se,forDharma,itdefiesanydef ini
ti
on;itcanonl ybe
expl
ainedasithasawi devariet
yofmeanings.

“Dharma is used t o mean just

ice (Nyay
a),whati srightin a giv
en
ci
rcumstance,
mor al,r
eligious,
piousorri
ghteousconduct,
beinghelpf
ult
ol i
vi
ng
bei
ngsandt hi
ngs,dut y,law andusageorcust om havi
ngt hefor
ceoflaw and
al
soav ali
dRajashasana( royaledi
ct)
.

Accordi
ngtoTait
ti
ri
yaSamhit
aDhar
maconst
it
utest
hef
oundat
ionofal
l
af
fai
rsintheworl
d,andi
tissupr
eme.

Accordi
ngt oMadhavachar
yasaid,“
Dharmaisthatwhichsust
ainsand
ensuresprogressandwel
far
eofallint
hisworl
dandet
ernalbl
i
ss(Moksha)i
nthe
otherworld”
.

TheSmr i
ti
scl assi
fiedsuchoft her ul
esofDharmawhichwer epur el
y
personali
nnatureas“ Achara(
conduct
)andt hosewhi
chweret
obeenf orcedand
observed by t
he State as civi
land cr i
minallaw (
Vyav
ahara Dharma)and
Constit
uti
onall
aw( RajDhar ma)r
espect
ivel
y”.

Accor
dingtoManu,say sthatAhimsa(non-vi
olence)
,Satya(
trut
hful
ness)
,
Asteya(notcovet
ingtheproper
tyofothers)
,Shoucham (puri
tyofmi
ndandbody )
andIndri
yaNigraha(cont
rolofsenses)arei
nbrieft
hecommonDhar maofall.

InChapter8,Manustressesupont heobserv
anceofDhar
maf or
ceful
l
y,
sayi
ng,“Dhar
mapr otecr
tsthosewho pr otecti
t. Thosewho dest
royitare
dest
royed.Theref
oreDharmashoul dnotbedestroyedsot
hatwemaynotbe
dest
royedasaconsequencethereof
”.

I
mpor
tanceofDhar
maShast
raonLegi
slat
ion

Hindulaw isconsider
edtobeofdi vineorigi
n. Itisr
eveal
edbyt he
Almi
ghtyGodt oourgr eatsages,phi
losophersandj ur
ist
swhohadat tai
ned
spi
ri
tualhei
ghts by t
heirTapasya and Yog. Hi ndu l
aw,accordi
ng t
o our

4
Dharmashast
ras,i
ssacr
osanct,i
nvi
olabl
eandi
mmut
abl
e. I
tmeanst
hati
ts
vi
olat
ioni
sdeemedassin(pap)
.

Si
nceiti
sdivinel
aw,itcannotbechangedbyanyhumanagency
.I tis
enfor
ceableatallt
ime,i
tistheeternall
aw. I
tsval
i
dit
ycannotbechal
lenged
becauseithast
hesancti
onoftheSupremepower.

Dharmahasbeendef inedascol l
ecti
onofdut iestobeperformedbyal lthe
humanbei ngsf orthei
rgood. Medhat i
thi,thecomment at
orofManuSmr it
i
defi
nesDhar maasdut ycreatedbyGodhi mselfforindiv
idual
s. Butthet erm
Dharmadoesnotsi gnif
ythel egalduti
esalone;itref
erstomor al
,rel
i
giousaswel l
associalduti
es.Hence, i
tisst r
angecombi nat
ionofdiff
erentki
ndsofdut iesfor
whichthenatureofsanctionsdi f
fered.Asr egardthelegalduti
es,thesanctions
camef rom t
hestateit
self
.Thosewhodi sregardedthem weretobepuni shedby
theKing.

Thesoverei
gnhimsel
fisnotimmunefrom thejur
isdi
cti
onofDhar
ma.The
Kingwasnotr egardedaslaw-gi
ver,butmerel
yt helaw enfor
cer
. Hehadto
executethelawaslaiddownintheDharmashast
raandt oexecut
ethej
udgment
s
pronouncedbyhi sowncour ts. Thekingwasdeemedt obesubordi
nat
eto
Dharma, i
.e.
,Law.Lawwasdeemedt obeSupreme.

InSatpat
haBrahmana,thelaw hasbeendeclaredtobethe“Kingof
Kings”
.Thesupr emacyofl
aw wasestabli
shedbecauseofi
tsemanat
ionfrom
god himsel
f. No human agencyexcepttheseersand sageswasdeemed
competentt
oenunciat
elaw.

ThegreatDhar
mashast
rawr
it
ersofanci
entt
imehavedivi
dedt
hei
rwhol
e
wor
kunderthreeheadsas–Achar
a,Vyav
aharaandPr
avaschi
tt
a.Achar
adeal
s
wi
ththeKarmasofanindi
vi
dual
.

TheVy avaharameansthecivi
llaw.Smr i
tkarNaradalai
dmuchemphasi s
on the Vyavahara orci
vill
aw. Last ly,the Pray
achitt
ai st he pr
ocess of
pur
if
icati
onwhi chenabl
esawr ong-
doert opuri
fyhimf r
om allthesins(pap)by
per
formingpenance.OurDhar mashastrashavedealtexhausti
velywit
ht herul
e
ofPrayaschi
tt
a.

ThelaterDhar mashast rasr eali

zi
ngt heimpor t
anceofVy av
aharaasan
i
ndependentent i
tyclassif
ieditsepar atel
yandadequat eemphasi swaslai
doni t
s
sanct i
ty.Allthemenwer er equiredtoobser veVyavaharainlet
tersandspir
it
.In
caseofi tsnon- observance,t heki nghadt otakecogni zanceandbr ingthe
offenderstobook.Manul aiddownei ghteentit
lesofl i
ti
gati
on,tocoverupal l
typesofcasesi nt heKi ng’scour t
. Thust heconceptofposi t
ivelaw,i.
e.,
Vy avaharabecamedi sti
nctf rom religi
ousormor all
aws,andaf ul
lydevel
oped
system ofVy avadharacamebef oreus.

Sour
ceofHi
nduLaw–Moder
nandAnci
ent

5
 Thedir
ectionoft hel egi
slatur
ethatther ul
esofHi ndulaw shouldbe
appli
edtoHindusi nmat t
ersspeci
f i
edabovesuppli
estheformalsour
ceoflawto
theserul
es.Thisdirect
ionis,onemaysay ,apol
it
icalsanct
ionbehi
ndtheserul
es.
I
tputsanendt oacont roversywhichoneexist
edamongschol arsasregar
dsthe
real
it
yandproprietyoftheterm“Hindulaw”.

Sour
cescoul
dbecl
assi
fi
edi
ntot
wocat
egor
ies:

a)Anci
entSour
ces
b)ModernSour
ces

I
. Anci
entSour
ces:

Ther
ear
efi
veanci
entsour
ces,
namel
y:

a)Srut
i,
b)Smriti
s,
c)Compar i
si
onwit
hMuslim Law,
d)TheComment ar
iesandDigest
s,
e)Customs.

I
I. Moder
nSour
ces:

Ther
ear
etwomoder
nsour
ces,
namel
y:

a)Judi
cialdeci
sions,
b)Legi
slati
on.
c)Equi
ty,Justi
ceandgoodconsci
ence.

Anci
entSour
ces:

Ther
ear
efi
veanci
entsour
ces,
namel
y:

a)Sr
uti
s:

ThenameSr utii
sder i
vedfrom ther oot‘Sru’(tohear
)andsi gni
fi
es‘what
i
shear d’.‘BySr utiorwhatwashear df rom abov e,ismeantt heVeda. Itis
beli
ev edt ocontainthev erywordsoft he‘Dei
ty’rev eal
edtoinspir
edsages.I n
theorysr uti
sareconsi deredtobet heprimaryandpar amountsoucesofHi ndu
Law.Thi sisofsupr emeaut hor
it
y ,asitisconsideredt obedivi
nesource.Butit
i
spr acti
call
yofno l egalsigni
ficancei nasmuch asi tdoesnotcont ai
n any
statementofl awassuch.

TheSruti
sconsistofthefourVedasandt heUpani
shadsdeal
i
ngchi
efl
y
wit
hreli
giousri
tesandthemeansofat tai
ningt
rueknowl
edgeandMokshaor
sal
vat
ion.Vedasareul
timatetr
adit
ional
sourceoflaw.

6
 TheVedasar
e‘Ri
g’,
‘Yaj
ur’
,‘
Sam’
,and‘
Athar
va’
.

TheRi
gVedacontai
nsmostl
ytheeul
ogi
esofGodsandl
awsofsacr
if
ices.
Thet
extsofRi
gVedaaretheol
dest
.

Thet
ext
sofYaj
urVedaaremostf
requent
lyassoci
atedwi
thr
it
ual
sand
endowedwi
thmagi
cpr
oper
ti
es.

TheSam Vedaconsi
stsofpr
ayer
scomposedi
nmant
rai
ntendedt
obe
chant
edatsacr
if
ices.

At
har
vaVedaconsi
stsofmagi
cchar
ms.

b)Smr
it
is:

Unli
ket heSr uti
,theSmr it
imeans“ whatwasr emember ed”andishuman
ori
ginandi sbel i
ev edt obet her ecoll
ect
ionsofRi shi
shandeddownt ous,
consti
tuti
ngt hepr incipalsourcesofHi ndul aw. TheSmr it
isaredivi
dedinto
Pri
mar yandSecondar ySmr it
is,thelat
terbeinglateri
ndat e;t
hePr i
marySmrit
is
are agai
n cl assif
ied into Dharma Sut r
as,and Dhar mashastr
as – Gautama,
Baudhyana, Apastamba, Hari
ta,Vasi
shthaandVi shnuar etheChiefSut
rawrit
ers
andManu, Yajnyavalkya,Bri
haspatiandNaradaar ethenotewor t
hyofthewrit
ers
oftheDharmashast ras.

TheSmr
it
isar
eoft
woki
nds:

a)I
npr
osest
yle:

Thosei
nprosearecall
ed“Dhar
maSutras”
.Thepr inci
palaut
hor
sther
eof
ar
eGaut
ama,Baudhy
ana,Apastamba,
Vasi
sht
ha,VishnuandHarit
a.

b)I
npoet
ryst
yle:

Thosearepoet
ryi
scall
ed“Dhar
maShastr
as”. Themostemi nentamong
theaut
horsther
eofareManu,Yaj
nyav
alky
a,Nar
ada,Vishnu,Dev
ala,Vri
haspat
i,
Katy
ayanaandVyasa.

c)Compar
isonwi
thMusl
i
m Law:

I
tisqui
tei
nter
est
ingt
onot
ethator
igi
nalMusl
i
mlaw al
sor
ecogni
zedf
our
sour
cesofl
aw;

(
i) t
heKor
an;

(
ii
) t
heSunnasort
radi
ti
onshandeddownfrom gener
ati
ont
ogener
ati
onof
t
hesayi
ngsanddoi
ngsoftheProphetMohammed;

7
 (
ii
i) I
jmaorar uleoflaw ar
ri
vedatbyaconsensusofopi
nionofMusl
i
m
j
uri
stsofanypar
ti
cularage;

(
iv) The Ki
yas oranal
ogicaldeducti
ons made by t
he Judge f
rom a
compar
isonoft
hefi
rstthr
eesources.

Botht heHinduandMusl i
ml egalsy st
emscl ai
m atranscendentalori
gin,and
r
ecognizethekindonl
yasamagi st
erialoff
icerandnotasal egisl
ati
vehead.The
f
ir
stsourceofl awinboththecasesi ssupposedtobeadi rectrevel
ati
on,both
t
helanguageandt hesensebeingrevealed.

Musl i
m l aw can makean addi t
ionalcl ai
m ofhav ing asitsf ounderone
hi
storicalper sonageandeachofi t
sf oursour cesasanemanat i
onf rom the
al
mi ghty,beingeitherdir
ectl
yorindir
ectlyconnectedwiththeApostleofGod, the
ProphetMohammed. Again,whil
et heKoran,thefi
rstsourceofMusl imlaw,
containsal argenumberofdi r
ectinj
unct i
onsont hetemporalaffai
rsofl i
fe,and
i
sr eallyandsubst anti
all
ythef i
rstandpr i
marysourceofl aw,inthecaseof
Hindust heSr uti
ismer el
ytheoret
ical
lythefir
stsourceoflaw.

d)TheComment
ari
esandDi
gest
s:

The Comment ari

es and the Digest
s were also the r
ecords oft he
tradi
ti
onalcustomsr ecordedintheSmriti
saswellasthenewcust omsclaiming
forandf oundwor thyrecognit
ion.Theper i
odofComment ari
esandDi gestis
between700A. D.to1700A. D.ThelastComment arywasVai j
ayantiwr
itt
enby
NandaPandi t
.I ti
saComment aryonVishnuDhar
masut ra.

Theearli
erpract
icewastowr it
eComment aryonapart
icul
arSmri
tibut
t
h
aft
er12 centur
ytherewasadi f
fer
entt r
endofwri
ti
ngCommentaryondi
ff
erent
tr
endofwriti
ngComment ar
yondi f
ferentSmri
ti
stoget
her
. Thisty
peofwor k
cametobeknownasDi gests(Ni
bandhas).

Thepr
inci
pal
Comment
ari
esar
e:

1.DayabhagabyJi mut avahana,

2.Mitakshara, a comment ary on Yaj nav
alky
a Smr i
ti by
Vij
naneshwar a,
3.Vir
ami tr
oday abyMi t
raMi sra,
4.Viv
adaChi ntamoni ,
byVachaspat iMi
sra,
5.Viv
ada- Ratnakara,byChandeshwar a,
6.Dayatattwa,byRaghunandana,
7.Dayakramasangr ahabySr i Kr
ishna,
8.Smr i
tiChandrika,byDev anBhat t
a,
9.Parashara Madhav iy
a, comment ary on Par ashar
a by
Madhav acharya,
10.
VyavaharaMay ukha, byNilkantha.

d)Cust
oms:

8
 Custom i
stheparentofper
sonall
awinal
lcount
ri
esandIndia,
acount
rywi
th
di
ver
secustoms,isnotanexceptiontoi
t.Custom i
sregardedasoneofthe
mosti
mportantsour
cesoflaw.

Accor
dingNar
adasai
d:“
Cust
om deci
desev
ery
thi
ngandov
err
ulest
hesacr
ed
Law”.

Whati
scust
om?

InSec.3(a)oftheHi nduMar r
iageAct,1955t heexpressi
on“custom”and
“
usage”signi
fyanyrul
ewhi ch,
havingbeencontinuousl
yandunifor
mlyobserved
f
oral ongtime,hasobtainedtheforceoflaw amongHi ndusinanylocalar
ea,
t
ri
be,communi t
y,gr
ouporf amil
y.

Thejudi
cialcommitt
eeexpl
ainedcustom t
hus;Cust om i
sarulewhi chi
na
parti
cul
arfamilyorinaparti
cul
ardistr
icthasfrom longusagesobtainedthe
for
ceofl aw. I tmustbeancient,cert
ainand reasonableand bei
ng inthe
derogat
ionofgeneral
rul
esofl
aw, mustbeconst
ruedst r
ict
ly.

Ki
ndsofCust
oms:
-

Ther
ear
ethr
eedi
vi
si
onsofcust
omsgener
all
yrecogni
zedbyHi
nduLaw.

Theyar
e;

a)LocalCustom,
b)ClassCustom,
c)FamilyCustom.

a)Local
Cust
om:
-

Suchcust
omsbel ongtosomeparti
cul
arl
ocal
i
ty,ordi
str
ictandt
heyar
e
bi
ndingont
heinhabi
tant
sofsuchpl
ace.

b)Cl
assCust
om:
-

Suchcustomsar eofacast
e,orofasect ,orofthef
oll
owersofapart
icular
pr
ofessi
onoroccupati
on,
suchas,agr
icul
tur
e,trade,
mechani
cal
artandt
helike.

c)Fami
l
yCust
om:
-

Suchcustomsrelat
etoapar t
icul
arf
amil
y,par
ticul
arl
yconcerni
ngsuccessi
on
t
oanimparti
bleRajorsuccessi
ontoMathsorrel
i
giousfoundat
ions.

Essent
ial
sofCust
om:
-

I
nor
dert
hatacust
om bev
ali
d,i
tmustbe–

9
a)Anci
ent
;

b)I
nvar
iabl
eandcont
inuous,

c)Est
abl
i
shedbycl
earandunambi
guousev
idence;

d)Reasonabl
e;

e)I
tmustnotbeopposedt
omor
ali
tyorpubl
i
cpol
i
cy;

f
)Itmustnotbef
orbi
ddenbyanyexpr
essenact
mentoft
heLegi
slat
ure;

g)Notopposedt
oanyl
aw;

h)Cust
om cannotbecr
eat
edbyagr
eement
.

Moder
nSour
ces:

Ther
ear
ethr
eemoder
nsour
ces,
namel
y:

a.Judi
cial
deci
sions:

Thesejudici
aldeci
sionsconst
it
uteanimpor
tantsourceoflaw.Alar
ge
numberofdecisi
onshav enowpileduponalmostever
ypointoflawwhi
chhas
super
sededthelawlai
ddowni ncommentari
esonsever
alfr
onts.

Thedecisi
onsofPr i
vyCouncilinsever
alareasofHinduLaw,wherethe
SupremeCour thasnotgiv
enit
spr onouncementsaretakent
obestil
lbi
nding.A
precedentisnotmerel
yanev idenceofal aw butal
soasour ceofl
aw andthe
courtsareboundtofol
lowtheprecedents.

Legi
slat
ionandj
udi
cialdeci
sionshavemodi
fi
edandsupplementedt he
pureHi
ndulawandnowtheyhaveemer gedasi
mpor
tantsour
cesofthepresent
Hindul
aw.

b.Legi
slat
ion:

Legisl
ati
onismodernsourceofHi nduLaw. Ithasbeenanimport
ant
f
actorinthedev el
opmentofHi
ndul aw.Mostoft hem ar
einthedi
rect
ionof
r
eformi
ngHi nduLawandsomeoft hem super
sedeHi
nduLaw.

The impor
tant Legi
slat
ions whi
ch have modi
fi
ed, al
ter
ed and
suppl
ement
edthetext
ual
HinduLawareasfol
l
ows:

(
1)TheCasteDi
sabil
i
tiesRemov al
Act,1850,
(
2)TheHinduWidowsRemar r
iageAct,1856,
(
3)TheNativ
eConvert
sMar r
iageDissolut
ionAct
,1866,

10
 (
4)TheSpecialMar riageAct ,1872,
(
5)TheI
ndianMaj ori
t yAct,1875,
(
6)TheTransferofPr opert
yAct ,
1882,
(
7)TheGuardiansandWar dsAct ,1890,
(
8)TheHinduDi sposi ti
onofPr oper tyAct,1916,
(
9)TheI
ndianSuccessi onAct ,1935,
(
10) TheHi nduLawofI nheritance( Amendment )Act
,1919,
(
11) TheChi ldMar r i
ageRest raintAct,1929,
(
12) TheHi nduGai nsofLear ningAct ,1930,
(
13) TheHi nduWomen’ sRi ghtt oPropertyAct,
1937,
(
14) HinduMar r
iagesVal idityActof1949,
(
15) TheSpeci al Mar ri
ageAct ,1954,
(
16) TheHi nduSuccessi onAct ,1956,
(
17) TheSuccessi on( Amendment )Act,2005.

c.Equi
ty,
Just
iceandgoodconsci
ence:

Equi
tyasabr anchoflegalsyst
em maybesai dtomeant hepr i
nci
plesor
rul
esemer ginginthecourseofadmi ni
str
ati
onofj ust
icepart
icul
arl
yi nthose
cases,whereonaccountofinadequacyoflaw,thejudgesevol
vecertai
ngener al
pri
ncipl
esont hebasi
sofjust
ness,fai
rnessandpropri
ety.

Ther ul
eist hataReligi
ousCode( Dharmashastra)issuperiortoaSecul ar
Code( Art
hashastra).Inviewoft heaboveobservat
ionsi twil
lnotbei ncorr
ectt o
ment i
onequi t
y,j
ust i
ceandgoodconsci enceasani mpor t
antsour ceofHi ndu
Law.Howev er,t
hepr inci
plesofequity,j
usti
ceandgoodconsci enceacqui reda
peculi
ar,ar
bitr
aryandnar rowmeani ngatthehandsoft heBrit
ishadmi nist
rators
ofjusti
cewhounder stoodbyitthepr i
nci
plesofEngli
shl aw,asf arast heywer e
appli
cabletotheIndiancircumstances.

TwoPr
inci
pal
School
sofHi
nduLaw

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

School
sofHinduLawcamei nt
obeingwhendif
fer
ent
comment
ari
esappearedtoint
erpret‘
Smri
ti
s’wi
thref
erencet
odif
fer
entl
ocal
cust
omsi
nv ogueindif
fer
entpart
sofIndi
a.

Properl
yspeaki
ngt her
earetwoschool
sofHinduLaw, namely,Mit
akshara
Schoolandt heDayabhagaSchool.Mit
akshar
aSchool i
sar unningcomment ary
ontheCodeofYaj navalky
aandwaswr itt
enbyVi
jnaneshwar ainthelat
terpartof
theeleventhcent
ury.TheDay abhagai
snotacomment aryonanyoneCode, but
purport
st obeadigestofallt
heCodes.Itwaswrit
tenbyJimut avahana.

11
 TheMitakshar
aisofsupr
emeauthor
it
ythr
oughoutI
ndi
aexcepti
nBengal
.
TheDayabhagaisofsupr
emeauthor
it
yinBengal
.

I
. Mi
takshar
aSchool
:

TheMi takshar
aSchooli
sthusdivi
dedintof i
vesub-schools.They
mat er
ial
lydi
fferedont hel
awofadopti
onandi nheri
tance.Alltheseschools
acknowledget hesupremeaut
horit
yoftheMitakshar a,
butgivepr ef
erenceto
certai
ntreat
isesandt ocommentari
eswhichcont ai
ncer t
ainpassagesoft he
Mitakshara.

Thef
ivesub-
school
sar
enamel
y:
-

1)TheBenar asSchool
,
2)TheMithi
laSchool,
3)TheDravidaorMadrasSchool,
4)TheBombayorMahar asht
raSchool
,
5)ThePunjabSchool.

Nowt
hesev
ari
oussub-
school
sofMi
takshar
awi
l
lbedi
scussedi
ndet
ail
:
-

(
1)Benar
asSchool
:-

Except
inginMithi
l
aandthePunj
ab,
thi
sschool
prev
ail
sint
hewhol
eof
Nor
thernI
ndiaincl
udi
ngOr
issa.

Thef
oll
owi
ngcomment
ari
esar
eal
sohel
dinhi
ghest
eem i
nthi
sSchool
:
-

a)Mi takshara,
b)Vi r
ami tr
odaya,
c)Dat takaMi mansa,
d)Ni r
nay asi
ndhu,
e)Vi v
adaTandav a,
f) Subodhini,
g)Bal am-Bhatti
.

(
2)Mi
thi
l
aSchool
:
-

Thi
sschoolprevai
lsi
nTi
rhootandNor
thBi
har
.Ofcour
se,
theMi
takshar
aist
he
l
awofthisschool.

Thef
oll
owi
ngar
ethecomment
ari
est
reat
edasaut
hor
it
ati
vei
nthi
sschool
:
-

a)Mi
takshar
a,
b)Vi
vadaRatnakar
,
c)Vi
vadaChintamani
,

12
 d)Smri
tiSar
aorSmrit
yar
thasar
a.
e)MadanaPari
j
ata.

(
3)Dr
avi
daorMadr
asSchool
:
-

Thewhol
eoft
heMadr
asSt
atei
sgov
ernedbyt
heMadr
asschool
ofHi
nduLaw.

Theauthor i
tiesaccept edi
nthi
sschool
aret
hef
oll
owi
ng:
-
a)Mi takshar a,
b)Smr i
tiChandr i
ka,
c)Par asaraMadhav iy
a,
d)Sar aswat iVilasa,
e)Vi rami troday a,
f) Vyav aharaNi rnaya,
g)Dat takaChandr i
ka,
h)Day aVi bhaga,
i) Vaijay anti
,
j) Madhabi ,
k)Ni rnay aSi ndhu,
l) Nar adaRaj ya,
m)Vi vadaTandav a.

(
4)BombayorMahar
asht
raSchool
:
-

TheBombayorMahar ashtr
aSchool ofHinduLawprev
ail
sinal
mostthewholeof
theSt
ateofBombayincludi
ngGujarat,Kanaraandt
hepart
swheret
heMar at
hi
l
anguageisspokenasthelocal
language.

Thef
oll
owi
ngwor
ksar
etr
eat
edasaut
hor
it
ati
vei
nthi
sschool
:
-

a)Mi
takshar
a,

b) Vy
avhar
aMay
ukha,

c)Vi
rami
tr
oday
a,

d)Ni
rnay
aSi
ndhu.

(
5)Punj
abSchool
:
-

I
tprevai
l
sinthepartoft
hecount
rycal
l
edt
heEastPunj
ab.Thi
sschool
ischi
efl
y
gov
ernedbycustoms.

Thef
oll
owi
ngar
eaut
hor
it
iesi
nthi
sschool
:
-

a)Mi
takshar
a,

b)Vi
rami
tr
oday
a,

13
 c)Punj
abCust
oms.

I
I. Day
abhaga:

Thisschoolprev
ailsi
nWestBengalaswel
lasi
nAssam wi
thsomev
ari
ances
basedont heauthori
tyofcust
oms.

Thef
oll
owi
ngaut
hor
it
iesar
eaccept
edi
nthi
sschool
:

a)Day
abhaga,

b)Day
atat
va,

c)Day
a-Sangr
aha,

d)Vi
rami
tr
oday
a,

e)Dat
taka-
Chandr
ika.

Di
ff
erencebet
weent
heMi
takshar
aandDay
abhagaSchool
s:

Thefundament
alpoi
ntsofdi
ff
erencebetweentheMi
takshar
aand
Day
abhagaSchool
sorl
awmaybesummar izedasfol
l
ows:

Mi
takshar
a Day
abhaga

1.Asr
egar
dsJoi
ntPr
oper
ty

Rightt
opropert
yari
sesbybi
rth; Ri
ghtt
opr
opert
ybydeath; hence
son hencethesonisaco-
ownerwitht
he hasnori
ghttoancest
ral
proper
ty fat
heri
nancestr
alpr
oper
ty. dur
ingfat
her’
s
l
ifet
ime.

Fatherhasarest
ri
ctedpowerof Fatherhasabsol
utepowerof
al
ienati
on,andsoncanclai
m par
ti
ti
on ali
enati
on,andsoncannotcl
aim
evenagainstt
hefat
her. part
it
ionorevenmaint
enance.

Theinter
estofamemberofthejoi
nt Theint
erestofeveryperson
would fami
lywoul
donhisdeath,
passed onhi sdeath,passby
i
nherit
anceto t
otheothermembersbysurvi
vorshi
p. hi
sheirs,
li
ke
widowordaughter
s.

2.Asr
egar
dsAl
i
enat
ion

Membersofj
ointf
amilycannot anymemberofjointf
amil
ymaysel
l
di
sposeoft
hei
rshareswhileundi
vi
ded orgi
veawayhi
sshar eev
enwhen
undi
vided.

14
 3.Asr
egar
dsI
nher
it
ance

Theprinci
pleofi
nher
it
ancei
s Thepri
ncipl
eofinher
it
ancei
s
consangui
nity
. Spi
ri
tualeff
icacy
.

4.Asr egardsDoct
ri
neofFact
um Doct
ri
neoff
act
um v al
eti
sfull
y
recognized. Valet–afactcannot
beal t
ered byhundredtext
s.

Appl
i
cat
ionofHi
nduLaw

Thepoweroft hecour
tstoappl
yHinduLawbef or
eIndependencewas
deri
vedf r
om theAct sandstatut
espassedbytheBri
ti
shParli
amentand
Provi
nciallegi
slat
uresfrom t
imetoti
me.TheI ndi
anCourtsalsoappli
edthe
pri
ncipl
esofj usti
ce,equit
yandgoodconsciencef
reel
ywhenev ert
hesituat
ions
demandedso.

Whoar
eHi
ndus?

Theterm“Hindu”denot esal
l t
hosepersonswhopr of essHindureli
gion
eit
herbybi rt
h,orbyconv ersiont otheHindufaith.InManoharJoshi V/
s.N.B.
Patil,
whi l
epointi
ngoutt hedi sti
nct
ionbetweenHi ndureli
gionandHi ndutva
(Hinduism),theSupremeCour thel
dthatthe“wor dHindut
vabyi t
sel
fdoesnot
i
nv ari
ablymeanHi ndur eli
gionandi tisthecontextandthemannerofi t
suse
whi chismat er
ialf
ordecidingt hemeani ngofthewor d‘Hi
ndut va’i
napar t
icul
ar
text.Itcannotbeheldt hatint heabstract
,themer eword‘Hindutva’byit
self
i
nv ari
ablymustmeant heHi ndur el
igi
on.

Per
sonst
owhom Hi
nduLawappl
i
es:
-

Uncodi
fi
edHi
nduLawappl
i
est
ofol
l
owi
ngcat
egor
iesofper
sons:

(
i) Hi
ndusbybi
rt
handal
sot
oHi
ndusbyr
eli
gioni
.e.
,conv
ert
s
t
oHindui
sm;

15
 (
ii
) I
ll
egi
ti
mat
echi
l
drenwher
ebot
hpar
ent
sar
eHi
ndus;

(
ii
i) I
ll
egit
imat
echildr
enwher
ethefatheri
saChr i
sti
anandthe
motheraHinduandt
hechil
drenarebroughtupasHindus;

(
iv) Jains,
Buddhistsi
nIndi
a,Si
khsandMambudriBrahmans
except,sofarassuchl
awisvar
iedbycust
om andto
Lingay
at swhoareconsi
der
edasShudras;

(
v) AHi ndubybi rt
hwho,havingr enouncedHi nduism has
revertedtoitaft
erper
formingt hereli
giousritesofexpi
ati
on
andr epentance.Orevenwithoutaf ormal ri
tualof
reconv er
sionwhenhewasr ecognizedasaHi ndubyhis
communi ty;

(
vi) SonsofHindudancinggir
lsoft
heNaikcast
econvert
edto
Mohammedanism, wherethesonsar
etakenint
othefamil
y
oftheHi
ndugrand-parent
sandarebr
oughtupasaHi ndu;

(
vii
) Brahmos,Ar
yaSamaj
ist
s,andSanthal
sofChotaNagpur,
and
al
soSanthal
sofManbhum exceptsof
arasiti
snotvari
edby
custom;

(
vii
i
) Hi
nduswhomadeadeclar
ati
onthattheywerenotHi
ndus
f
orthepur
poseoft
heSpeci
alMarri
ageAct,1872;

(
ix) Apersonwhoi sbornHinduandhasnotrenouncedthe
Hindurel
i
gion,doesnotceasetobeaHindumer el
ybecause
hedepart
sf r
om thestandar
dofort
hodoxyinmat t
ersofdi
et
andceremonialobser
vances.

Per
sonst
owhoHi
nduLawdoesnotappl
y:

Theuncodi
fi
edHi
nduLawdoesnotappl
y:
-

(
i) Tothei
ll
egiti
matechi
ldr
enofaHindufat
herbyaChr i
sti
anmother
whoarebroughtupasChri
sti
ansort
oill
egiti
matechi
ldr
enofa
Hi
ndufatherbyaMohammedanmot her,becauset
hesearenot
Hi
nduseitherbybi
rt
horbyrel
igi
on;

(
ii
) TotheHi nduconver
tstoChri
sti
ani
ty.Successi
ontotheestat
eofa
Hinduconv er
ttoChri
sti
ani
tywhodiesasaChr i
sti
anint
estat
ei s
governedbytheIndi
anSuccessi
onAct,1865.Aper sonceasingto
beaHi nduinrel
igi
oncannotsi
ncethepassingoftheActof1865,
el
ecttocont i
nuetobeboundbytheHinduLawi nthematter
sof
succession;

16
 (
ii
i) Toaconv ertfrom Hi
ndutotheMohammedanf ai
th.Butt he
conversi
onmustbebonaf i
de.I
faHinduconvert
st obebecomea
Muslim onlytolegal
i
zehi
ssecondmarri
agetheconv er
sionisnot
bonafideandHi ndulawofmonogamyshall
continuetoapplyon
suchconv ert
edMusl i
m.

UNI
T–I
I

MarriageandKi nship–Ev ol
uti
onoft heI nst
ituti
onof
Marri
ageandf amily–LawPer iortoHindumar ri
ageAct–A
Detai
ledst udyofHi ndumar riageAct ,1955–Mat ri
moni al
Remedies–Mai ntenanceandAl i
mony; CustomaryPr act
ices
andlegi
slativeProv i
sionsrel
atingtodowr yprohi
bit
ion.

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

InTi
kai
tMunmohint
iV/sBasantKumar,itwasobser
vedthati
nHinduLaw,
marr
iagewassacr
ament,aunion,anindi
ssol
ubleuni
onoffleshwit
hfl
esh,bone
wi
thbone-t
obeconti
nuedeveninthenextworl
d.

Accor
dingt
otheHi
ndutext
s,amancannotbesaidtohavemat er
ial
exi
stenceunti
lhet
ookawi
fe.Amanist
heonl
yhalfofhi
ssel
f.Ther
efor
eheis

17
notfull
yborn unti
lhe t
akesa wife and af
termar r
iage alone he becomes
complet
e. ThatiswhytheBrahminsdeclarethus:Theper sonknownast he
husbandisv
eri
lyknownasthewi
fe.

AsApast
hambaputi
t:Marri
agewasmeantfordoi
nggooddeedsandfor
at
tai
nmentofMoksha. Marr
iagewasnotcontr
actbutanindi
ssol
ubleti
eas
Medhati
thi
puti
t.

InthecaseofGopalKi shanV/ sMi t

hileshKumar i
,theAllahabadHi gh
Courtobserv ed,“The insti
tut
ion ofmat rimony undert he Hindu Law i sa
sacramentandnotamer esocio-l
egalcontract.I ti
snotper f
ormedf ormer e
emot i
onalgrati
fi
cati
onandi snotamer ebetrothal.It
scontexti
sreligious.Itis
reghardedaspar toftheli
feoft hesoul.Itishol yspi
rit
ualuni
oncor respondi
ng
toconsorti
um omnt um vit
oeofRome,apr ocessbywhi chthehusbandandt he
wifebecomeone.

Thebrideonthesev ent
hst epofthesapt apadi
,losesherori
ginalGot
ra
andacqui r
estheGotr
aoft hebridegroom,andaki nshi
piscreat
edwhati snota
meref ri
endshipf
orpleasur
e.AHi ndumar r
iagethusperformedthr
oughanyof
the modes,namel y
,Br ahma,Pr ajapat
ya,Ar sha and Daivaisregarded as
i
ndissolubl
e”.

Thewi f
ewasnotmer el yherhusband’
shel pmateinal lworl
dlyaff
air
sbut
sheassi
stedhimi ntheperformanceofr eli
giousduties,regularsacr
if
icesand
hel
pedhimt ogetHeaven.Al egi
timatewif
eis, t
heref
ore,call
edDhar mapatni–a
wif
emar r
iedfort
hefulf
il
lmentoft hesacr
edlaw.

I
nt he Vedic per
iod,the sacredness oft he marriage was r epeatedly
emphasi zed.Thewi f
eonhermar r
iagewasatoncegi v
enanhonour edposi ti
on
i
nt hehouse. Sheexer cisedauthor i
tyoverherhusband’ sbrothersandhi s
unmarriedsisters.Shewasassoci atedinallther el
i
giousof f
eri
ngsandr i
tuals
withherhusband.
Theoldwr i
ter
sputitthatawomani shalfherhusbandandcompl et
eshi m.
Manuaskedment ohonourandr espectwomenbuysay ing:“Womenmustbe
honouredandador nedbyt hei
rfat
hers,husbandsandbr ot
hers-
in-
lawwhodesi re
thei
rownwel far
e.Wher ewomenar ehonoured,therethegodsar epl eased:but
wheretheyar enothonour ednosacredr i
teyi
eldsrewards”.

For
msofmar
ri
age:

Therewer
efor
mer
lyei
ghtf
ormsofmar
ri
ages–f
ourappr
ovedandf
our
unappr
oved.

Theei
ghtki
ndsofmar
ri
agesar
e:

Appr
ovedf
orms:

1.Br
ahma.

18
 2.Dai
va.

3.Ar
sha.

4.Pr
ajapat
ya.

Unappr
ovedf
orms:

1.Asur
a.

2.Gandhar
va.

3.Rakshasa.

4.Pai
shacha.

Appr
ovedf
orms

1.TheBr
ahmaFor
m:-

“Thegiftofadaughter,cl
othedonl
ywit
hasi ngl
erobe,t
oamanl earnedi
nthe
Vedas,whom herf athervolunt
ari
l
yinvi
tes,and r
espect
ful
l
yreceiv
es,isthe
nupt
ialcal
ledBr
ahma” .

2.Dai
va:
-

Inthe‘
Daiva’mar r
iaget hedamselisgiv
ent oapersonwhooperatesasa
pri
esti
nasacr i
fi
ceper f
ormedbyt hefat
her,i
nlieuofthedakshi
naorfeedueto
thepri
est
;iti
sinferi
ortot heBr ahmabecausethefat
herderi
vesabenefi
t,whi
ch
i
snotdeemedr eprehensi
bl e.

3.Ar
sha:
-

In‘
Arsha’
mar
ri
aget
hebr
idegroom makesapr
esentofacowandabullor
twocowsandt wobul
lst
othebride’sfat
herwhi
chisacceptedforr
eli
gious
pur
poseonl
y.

4.Pr
ajapat
ya:
-

Thefourthkindofapprovedmar r
iageiscall
ed‘ Pr
ajapatya’whi
chdoesnot
mat
eri
allydi
fferfrom theBr
ahma,buti nthisthegiftismadewi t
hcondi
ti
onthat
“
youtwobepar tnersforper
formingsecularandrel
igiousduties”.

Unappr
ovedf
orms:

1.Asur
afor
m:-

19
 Whent hebr i
degr oom havi
ngfi
venasmuchwealthashecanaf for
d,tot he
fatherandpat ernalkinsman,andt othedamselher
sel
ftakesherv ol
untari
lyas
hisbr i
de,thatmar r
iagei snameAsur a. Thi
sf or
m ofmar r
iage,thest r
iking
featur
e ofwhi ch i
st he r
eceiptofpecuni
arybenefi
tbyt he bri
de’s parents
amount stoav irt
ualsaleofthebride.

2.Gandharv
a:-
TheGandhar
vamar r
iagewast heunionofamanandawomanbymutual
consent.Thismarriagewascontractedforthepur
poseofmor
ousembr
aces
andprecededfr
om sensuali
ncli
nat
ion.

3.TheRakshasaFor
m:-

Thi
sconsistsint hesei zureofamai denbyf orcef
rom herhouse,whil
e
sheweepsandcal l
sf orassistance,afterherkinsmanandf ri
endshav ebeen
slai
ni nbattl
eorwounded,af t
erbreakingt hei
rhousesopen. Thi sform of
marriagei
sst i
llpracti
cedamongcer t
ainclassesofGondsofBer arandBetul.
Thiskindofmar ri
agewasaf fectedbyf orci
blecaptureandwasallowedonlyto
theKshatr
iyasormi l
it
aryclasses.

4.Pai
shacha:
-

ThePaishachamarr
iagewast hemostreprehensi
bleasbeingmar
ri
ageof
agi
rlbyamanwhohadcommi t
tedthecri
meofr av
ishi
nghereit
herwhenasleep
orwhenmadedr unkbyadmini
ster
ingint
oxi
catingdrugorwheni nt
hestat
eof
mentaldi
sor
der.

Condi
ti
onf
oraHi
nduMar
ri
age:
-

Undert
het
ext
ualHi
nduLaw,t
hreecondi
ti
onswer
erequi
redf
orav
ali
d
mar
ri
age.

Thesecondi
ti
onswer
e:-

(
i) i
dent
it
yofcast
ebet
weent
hepar
ti
es;

(
ii
) part
iestobebey ondt
heprohi
bit
eddegreesofrel
ati
onshi
p,i.
e.,
werenotofthesamegotr
aorpr
avaraandwerenott
hesapindaof
eachother
;

(
ii
i) pr
operper
for
manceofcer
emoni
esofmar
ri
age;

1.I
dent
it
yofcast
e:-

Iftheparti
esdidnotbel
ongtot hesamecaste,themarri
agewasi nval
i
d,
unl
essitwassancti
onedbycust
om.Anci entHi
ndutextspr
ohi
bit
ed‘Prati
l
oma’
marr
iage,i
.e.
,bet
weenmalesoflowercasteandfemalesofhi
ghercaste.But

20
‘
Anuloma’mar
ri
age,i
.e.
,betweenmalesofhighercast
eandf
emal
esofl
ower
cast
ewereper
mitt
edandrecogni
zedbythet
exts.

2.Par
ti
est
obebey
ondt
hepr
ohi
bit
eddegr
ees:
-

Amancannotmar r
yagi r
lofthesamegot raorprav
araandtheyshoul
dnot
be‘sapi
ndas’ofeachother
.Aman, t
her
efore,coul
dnotmarryagirloft
hesame
got
raorpr avar
aast hegirlandboywer edeemedt ohav edescendedfr
om a
commonancest orinthemal el
ine.Ther ul
edi dnotappl
ytoShudr asasthey
havenogotraofthei
rown.

3.Per
for
manceofmar
ri
age–t
hecer
emoni
es:
-

Ther
ewer
ethr
eest
agesi
nther
it
ual
ofal
lfor
msofHi
ndumar
ri
age.

Ther
it
ual
swer
e:

(
i) t
hebet
rot
hal
,

(
ii
) t
hefor
mal
i
tiesi
ncl
udi
ngt
her
eci
talofhol
ytext
sbef
oret
hesacr
ed
f
ir
e,

(
ii
i) t
hesapt
apadi
gamana;

HI
NDUMARRI
AGEACT,
1955

I
NTRODUCTI
ON:

TheHinduMarri
ageAct ,1955recei
vedt heassentofthePresidentont he
t
h
18 May,1955andfrom thatdatei
tbecameal aw.Thisenactmentisexhaust i
ve
andi
thasbroughti
mpor t
antanddy namicchangesinHindumat r
imoni alconcept.
I
tisal
andmar ki
nthehistoryofsoci
allegi
slat
ion.

TheHi
ndumar r
iagecontempl
atedbytheActhardlyremainssacrament al
.
Theacthasintr
oducedsomechangesoff ar
-reachi
ngconsequenceswhi chhav e
underminedt
hesacramentalchar
act
erofmar ri
ageandrendereditcont
ractualin
natur
et oagr
eatext
ent.

Changesbr
oughtaboutbyt
heHi
nduMar
ri
ageAct
,1955:
-

Thefol
l
owi
ngchangesbr
oughtaboutbyt
heActi
nthel
awofmar
ri
agear
e
i
mpor
tant
:-

(
1)I
nter
-marr
iagebetweenpersonsofdi
ffer
entcast
esisnotpr
ohi
bit
ed.Sec.
29oftheActgivesretr
ospecti
veeff
ecttothi
sruleandlay
sdownthata

21
 cer
emoni
almarr
iagesolemni
zedbef
orethecommencementoft
heAct
bet
weenper
sonscomingwit
hint
hedefi
nit
ionof‘
Hindu’
.

(
2)Monogamywhichisessent
ial
l
ythev ol
unt
aryunionforl
i
feofoneman
wi
th one woman t
othe excl
usi
on ofallother
si snow enf
orci
ng by
l
egi
slat
ion–Sec.
5(i
).

(
3)Bi
gamyhasbeenmadepuni
shabl
easanof
fenceundert
heIPC.

(
4)Sever
almatri
monialr
eli
ef’
s,e.
g.,r
est
it
uti
onofconj
ugalri
ght
s,judi
cial
separ
ati
on,
null
it
yofmarri
ageanddi
vor
cehavepr
ovi
dedint
heAct.

(
5)Legi
ti
macyhasbeenconf
err
edonsuchchi
l
drenwhoar
ebor
nofv
oidand
voi
dablemarr
iage.

(
6)Provi
sionsf
oral
i
monypendentel
it
e,per
manental
i
monyandmai
ntenance
havebeenmade(Sec.
24and25).

Condi
ti
onsf
orMar
ri
ageunderHi
nduMar
ri
ageAct
,1955

Sec.
5

Nowundert heHinduMarri
ageAct,1955,t
heident
it
yofcast
eorsub-
caste
i
snotnecessaryf oramar ri
age.I
fthecondit
ionslai
ddowninsec.5ar
eful
fi
lled,
themarri
ageisv alid.Essenti
alcondi
ti
onsofv al
idmarri
agemaybedescribed
undert
hefol
lowingheads:

1.Monogamy
:-

Thefi
rstcondi
ti
onprov
idest
hat“
nei
therpar
tyhasaspousel
i
vingatt
he
t
imeofmar
ri
age.Sec.
5(i)
.

2.Soundnessofmi
nd:
-

Atthetimeofmar ri
age,neit
herpart
y,-
(a)i sincapabl
e ofgi ving a val
id consenttoi tin consequence of
unsoundnessofmi nd;
(b)Thoughcapabl eofgi v
ingav ali
dconsent,hasbeensuf feri
ngf r
om
mentaldisor
derofsuchaki ndort osuchanext entastobeunf i
tformar r
iage
andtheprocreati
onofchildr
en;
(c)Hasbeensubj ecttorecurr
entat
tacksofinsani
tyorepi
lepsy,Sec.
5(ii
).

3.AgeofMar
ri
age:
-

Thet
hir
dconditi
oni
sthat‘
thebri
degr
oom hascomplet
edtheageof21
y
ear
sandbr
idetheage18y
earsatthet
imeofthemar
ri
age’
,Sec.5(
ii
i)
.

4.Bey
ondpr
ohi
bit
eddegr
ees:
-

22
 Thefourthcondit
ionlaysdownt hat‘
thepar
ti
esar
enotwit
hint
hedegrees
ofprohibi
tedrelat
ionshi
p,unlessthecustom orusagegov
erni
ngeachofthem
per
mi t
samar riagebetweenthetwo’,Sec.5(
iv).

5.Bey
ond‘
sapi
nda’
rel
ati
onshi
p:-

Thefi
fthcondi
ti
onisthat‘
thepart
iesar
enotsapindasofeachother
,
unl
essthecustom orusagegoverni
ngeachofthem per
mitsofamar r
iage
bet
weenthetwo’
.Sec.
5(v)
.

MARRI
AGECEREMONI
ES:

SECTI
ON7:

Sec.
7pr
ovi
des:

(
1)Amarri
agemaybesol emni
zedinaccor
dancewi
tht
hecust
omar
yri
tesand
cer
emoniesofei
therpart
yther
eto.

(
2)Wheresuchri
tesandceremoniesincl
udethesapt apadi(
thati
s,t
hetaki
ngof
sevenst
epsbyt hebr
idegroom andthebridejointl
ybeforethesacr
edfir
e),
themarr
iagebecomesbindingwhenthesev ent
hst epist
aken.

InN. SomanathTarapurV/sDivisionalCont r
oll
erK.S.R.
T.C.,Bij
apur,the
Kar
natakaHi ghCourthel
dthati
tisnott her equir
ementoflawthatt hemar r
iage
amongstHi ndusi
nwhi chiti
snotprovedt hatthecouplehadt akenav ow and
sev
enst epstoget
herinfr
ontofthesacredf ire,
isnomar r
iageatall
,norcani tbe
sai
dthatnomar ri
ageisvali
dintheabsenceofsuchpr oofnotwit
hstandingthere
bei
ngsuf f
ici
entevi
dencetoprov
ethemar ri
ageot her
wise.

PROOFOFMARRI
AGE:

SECTI
ON8:

Regist
rat
ionofmar r
iages:-Sec.8oft heActprovi
desthat‘
fort
he
purposeoffacil
i
tati
ngt heproofofHi ndumar ri
ages,theSt
ateGov er
nmentmay
make r ul
es pr
ovidi
ng thatt he part
ies to anysuch marri
age mayhav ethe
parti
cular
srel
ati
ngtotheirmar r
iageenteredonsuchmannerandsubj ectt
osuch
conditi
ons,asmaybepr escri
bedi naHi nduMar ri
ageRegisterkeptf
orthe
purpose’.

InSmt.
SeemaV/ sAshwaniKumar,theSupremeCour ton14th Februar
y,
2006order
edcompul soryregi
str
ati
onofmar r
iagesir
respect
iveofreligi
on. It
dir
ect
edtheCentr
eandUni onTerri
tori
est
oamendt herulestothi
seffectwi t
hin
thr
eeweeksofthejudgment.

23
RESTI
TUTI
ONOFCONJUGALRI
GHTS:

SECTI
ON9:

Af
termar r
iaget
hehusbandisenti
tl
edtothesoci
etyofhiswi
feand
thewif
etothesocietyofthehusband.Sec.9oftheHinduMar r
iageAct
,1955
deal
switht
hesubjectofther
est
itut
ionofconj
ugalr
ight
s.

Whent
her
ight
sar
ise?

TheSec.9providest hat:‘Whenei thert hehusbandorthewifehaswi t

hout
reasonableexcuse,withdr awnf rom t hesoci etyoftheother
,theaggri
evedpar t
y
mayappl y,bypetit
iontot heDi str
ictCour t,forresti
tut
ionofConj
ugalri
ghtsand
thecourt,onbeingsatisfiedoft hetruthoft hest at
ementsmadei nsuchpetit
ion
andt hatthereisnolegalgr oundwhyt heappl icat
ionshoul
dnotber antedmay
decreeresti
tuti
onofconj ugal ri
ghtsaccor di
ngl y
”

Thus,underthissecti
onthecourtmaydecreetherest
it
utionofconj
ugal
r
ight
s,when–
(a)eitherofthepar t
yhas,wit
houtr
easonableexcuse,wi
thdr
awn
from thesociet
yoftheot
her;

(
b)thecour
tissat
isfi
edofthetr
uthofthest
atement
smadei
nthe
peti
ti
onforr
est
itut
ionofconj
ugalr
ight
s;

(
c)thereisno l
egalgr
oundwhyt
heappl
i
cat
ionshoul
dnotbe
granted;

Theessenceofdecr eef
orrest
it
utionofconjugal
rightsi
st hattheei
therof
thespousesdesi r
ingthecompanyoft hewifemakesanef f
ortt
hr oughthecourt
forit
sassistanceinor dertor
est
oretheot herbacktohi m sothattheymaybe
abletoleadconjugall
i
f e.

Const
it
uti
onal
i
tyofSec.
9oft
heHi
nduMar
ri
ageAct
:-

InT.SareethaV/sVenkataSubbaiah,t
heAndhr aPradeshHighCourthas
obser
vedthatt heremedyofresti
tut
ionofconjugalright
spr ovi
dedunderSec.9
oftheActisasav ageandbarbarousremedyv iolat
ingther i
ghtt
oprivacyand
humandignit
yguar ant
eedbyArt.21oftheConstituti
on.

Accordi
ngt othel ear
nedj udgeadecr eeofrestit
utionofconj ugalri
ghts
consti
tutedthegrossestf or
m ofv iolati
onofanyindi
vidual’sr i
ghttopri
vacy.It
deni
edt hewomanaf r
eechoi ce,wher ewhenandhowherbodywast obecome
thevehicleforprocr
eationofanot herhumanbei ng.Adecr eeofr est
it
uti
onof
conj
ugalr i
ghtsdepri
vedawomanofcont r
olov
erherbodyshoul dbeall
owedt o
beserved.Shel oseshercont roloverhermostint
imatedeci sions.Itdi
dnotsub
serv
eanysoci algood. I twasar bitrar
yandv oi
dasof fendi ngArt.14oft he
consti
tuti
on.

24
Whatamount
stowi
thdr
awal
?

Mar
ri
edper sonsar
eboundtoli
vetoget
herandifei
theroft
hem wi
thdr
aws
for
mt hesocietyoftheotherwit
houtl
awfulexcuse,t
heCourtmaycompelt he
part
iestor
eturntocohabi
tati
on.

Theforsaki
ngofwife’
sbed,av
oidi
nghersoci
etyandsecl
usi
onofhimself
f
rom herinaseparatepartofacommonr esi
dencemayamounttowithdrawal
f
rom cohabi
tati
on.Thereasonsofwi
thdr
awalmustbegrav
eandweight
y.

Thefol
lowi
nggroundshavebeenhel
dtobeval
i
dconsi
derati
onsf
orli
ving
separatel
y,di
sent
it
li
ngtheotherspousetoadecr
eeforr
est
it
utionofconj
ugal
ri
ghts:-

a)Gr ossl yindecentbehav iour;

b)Ext r
av aganceofl i
ving ont hepar toft hewi f
eef fecti
ng t
he
fi
nanci al positi
onandpr ospect soft hehusband;
c)Excessi vedr i
nking car ri
ed to suchadegr eeast or enderit
possi blef orthedutiesofmar riedlifetobedi scharged;
d)Per sist encei naf alsechar geagai nstther espondentofhav i
ng
commi tt
edanunnat ural off
ence;
e)Ref usal ofmar it
alintercoursewi thoutsuf f i
cientreason;
f) Appr ehensi onofv iolenceduet odev el
opmentofi nsanityint
he
peti
tioner ;
g)Agr eementt olivesepar atel
y;
h)Mi sconductappr oachi ngcr ueltybutf allingshor tofi t
.Wher e
the wi f e used to be habi tuallybeat en byt he husband and
neglect edt o bepr ovidedwi thf ood,t heCour thel dthatthe
att
itude of t he husband amount ed t o l egalcr uelt
y and
const itutedagr oundf orr efusalofadecr eeunderSec.9oft he
Act;
i
)I mput at i
onofunchast i
t ypersistedi nbyt hehusband.

InSnehPrabhaV/sRav indr
aKumar ,i
nanappealagai
nstor
derconfir
ming
decreeofr est
it
utionofconj ugalri
ghts,theSupremeCourtfel
tt hatdespit
e
concili
ati
onandmanyef fort
st her
ewerenochancesofhusbandandwi feli
vi
ng
together.Accor
dinglyi
nsteadofconf i
rmingtheorderconf
ir
mingresti
tuti
onof
conjugalri
ght
s,t
heSupremeCour tgr
anteddivor
ce.

I
nSmt .SumanbaiV/ sAnandraoOnkarPanpati
l
,thecourtheldthatt
here
canbenomor einsul
ti
ngi nj
uryt
owifethanherownhusbanddoubtsherchast
it
y.
Ifsuchall
egati
onsarelightl
ymadeandper si
stedi
nfi
li
ngpeti
ti
on,thehusbandis
notenti
tl
edtoanyr el
iefunderSec.
9oftheAct.

JUDI
CIALSEPARATI
ON:

25
SECTI
ON10:
Sect
ion10oftheHi
nduMar
ri
ageActdeal
swi
thj
udi
cial
separ
ati
on.Thi
ssecti
onlaysdown–

Judici
alsepar
ati
onisastateofrel
ati
onsbetweenhusbandandwi fewhen
theyareundernoobl i
gati
ontoli
vetogetherort
operform mari
talobl
i
gati
onsfor
eachot her
.Itistemporar
ysuspensi
onofmar it
alr
ightsbet
weent hespousesas
ar esul
tofdecreepassedbyt hecourtonanyoneoft hegroundsment i
onedin
thi
ssect i
on.

(
A)Gr
oundsav
ail
abl
etohusbandandwi
febot
h:

1.Adult
ery:-Wheretheotherpar
tyhas,af
terthesol
emni
zat
ionofthe
marri
age,hadv ol
untar
ysexualinter
coursewithanyper
sonother
thanhisorherspouse.

2.Cr
uel
ty:-Wher
etheot
herpar
tyhast
reat
edt
hepet
it
ionerwi
th
cr
uel
ty.

3.Deserti
on:-Wheretheotherpar
tyhasdesert
edt
hepet
it
ionerfora
conti
nuous peri
od of not less than t
wo year
simmedi atel
y
precedi
ngthepresent
ati
onofthepeti
ti
on.

4.Conv
ersi
on:-Wheretheotherpar
tyhasceasedt
obeaHi
nduby
Conv
ersi
ontoanot
herrel
i
gion.

5.Unsoundness ofMi nd:-Wher et he ot

herpar ty has been of
i
ncurable unsound mind orhasbeen suffer
ing conti
nuousl
yor
i
ntermitt
entl
yf rom mentaldi
sorderofsuch an ext entthatthe
peti
ti
oner cannot reasonabl
y be expected to l i
ve with the
respondent.

6.Lepr
osy
:-Wher
etheot
herpar
tyhasbeensuf
fer
ingf
rom av
irul
ent
andani
ncur
abl
efor
m ofl
epr
osy.

7.Venerealdi
sease:-Wher
etheotherpar
tyhasbeensuf
fer
ingf
rom
vener
eal di
seasei
nacommunicablef
orm.

8.Renunci
ati
onofWorld:-Wheretheotherpar
tyhasr
enouncedt
he
worl
dbyenter
inganyrel
igi
ousor
der.

9.Presumeddeath:-Wheretheotherpartyhasnotbeenheardofas
beingal
iv
eforaper iodofseveny ear
sormor ebyt hosepersons
whowouldnatural
lyhavehear
dofithadt hepar
tybeenali
ve.

26
 (
B)Addi
ti
onal
groundst
owi
fe:

Thesectionhasfurtherl
aid downadditi
onalgr
oundst o wi
fef
ort
he
j
udi
cialsepar
ati
onofmar
riagebyadecr eeofdi
vor
ceonthegroundsof
:

1.Bi
gamy
:-

Inthecaseofanymar ri
agesolemnizedbeforethecommencementofthis
Act,thatthehusbandhadmar r
iedagai
nbeforesuchcommencementorthatany
otherwifeofthehusbandmar ri
edbefor
esuchcommencementwasal iv
eatt he
ti
meoft hesol
emnizat
ionofthemarri
ageofthepetit
ioner
;

2.Rape,
SodomyorBest
ial
i
ty:
-

Thatt
hehusbandhassincet
hesol
emni
zat
ionoft
hemar
ri
agebeengui
l
tyof
r
apeorsodomyorbest
ial
i
ty;

3.Non–r
esumpt
ionofcohabi
tat
ionaf
terdecr
eeoror
derofmai
ntenance:
-

Thatwher easuitunderSec.18oftheHinduAdoptionsandMai ntenanceAct

orinapr oceedingunderSec.125oft heCodeofCr iminalProcedure,1973,a
decreehasbeenpassedagai nstt
hehusbandawar di
ngmai nt
enancet othewife
andt hatsincethepassi
ngofsuchdecreeororder
.

4.Opt
ionofpuber
ty:
-

Thathermarri
agewassol emni
zedbef or
esheat tai
nedtheageoffi
ft
een
yearsandshehasrepudi
atedt
hemar r
iageaft
erat
tai
ningtheageof15y
ear
sbut
beforeat
tai
ningt
heageof18years.

I
nci
dent
sandef
fect
sofj
udi
cial
separ
ati
on:

The f
oll
owi
ng ar
ethe i
nci
dent
s and ef
fect
s ofan or
derofj
udi
cial
separ
ati
on:

1.Thatt
hemar
ri
aget
iei
snotdi
ssol
ved.

2.Thatafterthepassi
ngoft hedecreeofj udi
cialsepar
ati
on,the
husband and wif
ei s notbound tol i
vet ogetheras judi
cial
separat
ioni
sseparat
ionf
rom bedandboard.

3.Aftert
hedecreeofjudi
cialsepar
ati
onitwi
l
lnotbeobl
i
gat
oryf
or
thepart
iest
ocohabi
twitheachother.

4.Itdoes notprev
entthe part
ies f
rom subsequentl
yresuming
cohabi
tat
ionandl
ivi
ngt
ogetherashusbandandwi f
easorigi
nall
y
theydi
d.

27
 5.Thepeti
tioner
,ifshebethewif
e,becomesent
it
ledt
oali
monyf r
om
thehusband,andi fheisthehusbandhecanclai
m maint
enance
from wi
thunderSec.25oft
hisAct.

NULLI
TYOFMARRI
AGEANDDI
VORCE:

Voi
dmar
ri
ages:
-

Sec.11say s,“
Anymarri
agesolemni
zedatthecommencementoft hi
sact
shal
lbenullandv oi
dandmay ,onapetit
ionpresentedbyeit
herpart
ytheret
o
agai
nsttheotherpartybesodecl
aredbyadecreeofnulli
tyi
fitcont
rav
enesany
oneofthecondit
ionsspeci
fi
edinSec.5(i
),
(i
v)and(v).

Thusamar
ri
agewi
l
lbev
oidabi
nit
io:
-

(
i) i
fanypartyt
omar
ri
agehasaspousel
i
vingatt
het
imeoft
hemar
ri
age.
Sec.
5(1)
;

(
ii
) i
fthepart
iesar
ewi
thi
nthedegreeofpr
ohi
bit
edrel
ati
onshi
punl
essthe
cust
om orusagegover
ningeachofthem per
mit
ssuchamar r
iage.
Sec.
5(i
v);

(
ii
i) i
ftheparti
esaresapi
ndasofeachot
her
,unlessthecust
om orusage
gover
ningeachoft
hem per
mit
ssuchamarri
age,Sec.
5(v)
.

Voi
dabl
emar
ri
ages:
-

Sec.12l i
esdown:
-“
Anymar ri
agesolemnized,whet
herbefor
eoraf
terthe
commencementofthi
sAct,shal
lvoidabl
eandmaybeannul l
edbyadecreeof
nul
li
tyonanyoft
hefol
l
owinggrounds,namel
y:
-

a)t
hatthemar r
iagehasnotbeenconsummat
edowi
ngt
othei
mpot
enceof
t
herespondent;

b)thatthemarri
ageisincontravent
ionoft
hecondi
ti
onspeci
fi
edi.e.
,ei
ther
partysuf
fer
sfrom unsoundnessofmindatt
heti
meofthemarri
age;

c)t
hattheconsentofthepeti
ti
onerorwheret
heconsentoft
heguar
diani
n
marr
iageofthepet
it
ionerwasrequi
red;

d)thatther
espondentwas,attheti
meoft
hemar
ri
age,pr
egnantbysome
personot
herthanthepet
it
ioner
;

Voi
dandVoi
dabl
eMar
ri
ages–Di
sti
nct
ion:

Themai
ndi
sti
nct
ionbet
weent
het
woi
sthatav
oidmar
ri
agei
svoi
dab

28
i
nit
ioandisanul
l
ity.Iti
svoi
dipsofacto.Avoidablemarri
ageontheotherhand,
i
samar ri
agewhi
chi sval
idf
orallpur
poseswhat everunl
essi
tisannul
l
edbyt he
Di
stri
ctCour
tonthepeti
ti
onoftheaggriev
edparty.

UnderSec.11,amarri
agesol
emni zedafterthecommencementoft heAct,
shallbenullandv oi
difi
tisincont
rav
ent ionofclauses(i
),(
iv)and(v)ofSec.5.
Butanymar ri
agemaybeannul ledbyadecr eeofnul l
it
ywhet hersol
emnized
beforeorafterthecommencementoft heAct ,underSec.12ofHi nduMarri
age
Act,1955.

DI
VORCE

Pr
iorHi
nduLaw:

Di
vorce was unknown to gener
alHindu Law as marri
age was
r
egar
dedasani ndissol
ubleuni
onofthehusbandandwi fe.Manuhasdecl ar
ed
t
hatwif
ecannotber el
easedfr
om herhusbandeit
herbysaleorbyabandonment,
i
mplyi
ngthatt
hemar it
alti
ecannotbeseveredi
nanyway .

According t
o Kaut
il
ya’
sAr t
hashastr
a,marr
iagemightbedi
ssol
ved by
mut
ualconsenti
nthecaseoftheunapprov
edfor
m ofmarr
iage.

Pr
esentLaw–Hi
nduMar
ri
ageAct
,1955:

ThepresentActhasint
roducedvitalanddy namicchangesinthe
HinduLawofmarri
ageanddivorce.I
thaslaiddowncl earprov
isi
onsfordivor
ce
undercer
tai
ncir
cumstances.Thesubjectisdealtwit
hi nSec.13,13-B,14and
15oftheAct.

Sect
ion 13 pr
ovi
des t
he ci
rcumst
ances i
n whi
ch t
he r
ightt
o di
vor
ce
accr
ues.

Sect
ion14l imit
sther i
ghttoobtai
nadi vorcebylayi
ngi tdownthata
peti
ti
onf ordiv
or cemaynotbemadewi t
hinoney earoft
hedat eofmar r
iage
exceptwhen t he case is ofexcept
ionalhardshiptot he peti
ti
onerorof
except
ionaldepravi
tyonthepartoft
herespondent
.

Secti
on15l
aysdownt
hel
i
mit
ati
onsont
her
ightofdi
vor
cedper
sonst
o
mar
ryagai
n.

GROUNDSFORDI
VORCE(
SECTI
ON13)

(
A)Gr
oundsav
ail
abl
etohusbandandwi
febot
h:

1.Adul
ter
y:-

29
 Wheret heotherpart
yhas,af
terthesolemnizat
ionofthemar ri
age,had
v
olunt
arysexuali
ntercour
sewit
hanypersonothert
hanhi sorherspouse.Sec.
13
(
1)(i
)

2.Cr
uel
ty:
-

Wher
etheot
herpar
tyhast
reat
edt
hepet
it
ionerwi
thcr
uel
ty.Sec.
13(
1)(
ia)

3.Deser
ti
on:
-

Wheretheotherpar
tyhasdesert
edthepet
it
ionerforaconti
nuousperi
od
ofnotl
essthantwoyearsi
mmediatel
yprecedi
ngt
hepr esent
ati
onofthepet
it
ion.
Sec.
13(
1)(i
b)

4.Conv
ersi
on:
-

Wher
etheot
herpar
tyhasceasedt
obeaHi
ndubyConv
ersi
ont
oanot
her
r
eli
gion.

5.UnsoundnessofMi
nd:
-

Wheretheot herpart
yhasbeenofi ncurabl
eunsoundmi ndorhasbeen
sufferi
ngconti
nuouslyorintermit
tentl
yfr
om ment aldisor
derofsuchanext ent
thatthepet
it
ionercannotreasonablybeexpectedtoli
vewitht
herespondent
.

6.Lepr
osy
:-

Wher
etheot
herpar
tyhasbeensuf
fer
ingf
rom av
irul
entandani
ncur
abl
e
f
orm ofl
epr
osy.

7.Vener
eal
disease:
-

Wheretheotherpar
tyhasbeensuf
fer
ingf
rom v
ener
ealdi
seasei
na
communi
cabl
efor
m.

8.Renunci
ati
onofWor
ld:
-

Wher
etheot
herpar
tyhasr
enouncedt
hewor
ldbyent
eri
nganyr
eli
gious
or
der
.

9.Pr
esumeddeat
h:-

Wheretheotherpar
tyhasnotbeenhear
dofasbeingali
vef
oraper
iodof
sevenyear
sormor ebythoseper
sonswhowoul dnat
ural
lyhav
ehear
dofithad
thepar
tybeenal
iv
e.

10.
Non-
resumpt
ionofcohabi
tat
ion:
-

30
 Wherether
ehasbeennoresumpt
ionofcohabi
tat
ionf oraperi
odofone
y
earoronwar
dsaf t
ert
hepassi
ngofadecreeforjudi
cialsepar
ati
ont owhi
ch
t
heywer
epart
ies.

11.
Fai
l
uret
ocompl
ywi
thdecr
eef
orr
est
it
uti
onofconj
ugal
right
s:-

Wherether
ehasbeennorest
it
utionofconjugalri
ght
sbetweentheparti
es
foraper
iodofoneyearoronwar
dsafterpassingofthedecreeforr
esti
tut
ionof
conj
ugalr
ight
sinaproceedi
ngt
owhicht heywereparti
es.

(
B)Addi
ti
onal
groundst
owi
fe:
Sec.13(
2)

Thesectionhasfurtherl
aid downadditi
onalgr
oundst o wi
fef
ort
he
j
udi
cialsepar
ati
onofmar
riagebyadecr eeofdi
vor
ceonthegroundsof
:

1.Bi
gamy
:-

I
nthecaseofanymarri
agesolemnizedbefor
ethecommencementoft
his
Act,t
hatthehusbandhadmarri
edagainbeforesuchcommencementort
hatany
otherwif
eofthehusbandmarriedbefor
esuchcommencementwasal i
veatthe
ti
meoft hesol
emnizat
ionoft
hemar r
iageofthepeti
ti
oner
;

2.Rape,
SodomyorBest
ial
i
ty:
-

Thatt
hehusbandhassincet
hesol
emni
zat
ionoft
hemar
ri
agebeengui
l
ty
ofr
apeorsodomyorbesti
ali
ty;

3.Non – resumpt
ion ofcohabi
tat
ion af
terdecr
ee oror
derof
mai
ntenance:
-

ThatwhereasuitunderSec.18oftheHinduAdopt
ionsandMai nt
enance
Actorinaproceedi
ngunderSec.125oftheCodeofCrimi
nalProcedur
e,1973,a
decr
eehasbeenpassedagai nstt
hehusbandawardi
ngmai nt
enancetothewife
andthatsi
ncethepassi
ngofsuchdecreeoror
der.

4.Opt
ionofpuber
ty:
-

Thathermarri
agewassolemnizedbeforesheattai
nedtheageoffi
ft
een
yearsandshehasr epudi
atedt
hemar r
iageaf
terat
tai
ningtheageof15year
sbut
beforeatt
aini
ngtheageof18years.

DI
VORCEBYMUTUALCONSENT

SECTI
ON13–B:

Di
vor
cecannow al
sobeobt
ainedbymut
ualconsentoft
hepar
ti
est
o

31
mar
ri
ageundert
heMar
ri
ageLaws(
Amendment
)Act
,1976.

Accordi
ngt oSec.13-B(1)suchapet i
ti
onisrequir
edtobemov edjoint
ly
bytheparti
estomarri
ageont hegroundthattheyhavebeenli
vingseparat
elyfor
aperi
odofoney earormor eandt heyhavenotbeenabl etoliv
etogetherand
al
sothattheyhav
eagr eedthatt
hemar ri
ageshouldbedissol
ved.

Sect
ion13-
B(2)oftheActlaysdownt hatonthemotionofbot
hthe
par
ti
esmadenotearl
i
ert
hansixmonthsaf
tert
hedateofthepr
esent
ati
onoft
he
pet
it
ion.

Theunderl
yi
ngideafordi
v orcebymut ualconsentmaybet r
eatedfr
om
thepr i
nci
plet
hatifthemarri
ageundermostoft hemat r
imonialActsisacivi
l
contract
,cont
ractbasedoncertaincondi
ti
onswi ththemut ualconsentofthe
part
ies,thentheparti
esmustbegi vendiscret
iont ofi
nisht hatcontr
actof
marriage.

Thr
eeessent
ial
sofdi
vor
cebymut
ual
consent
:
Accor
dingt
oSec.13-
B,f
oll
owi
ngar
ethet
hreeessent
ial
s:-

(
i) t
hatboththepar
tieshav
ebeenl
i
vingsepar
atel
yfor
aper
iodofoneyearormore;

(
ii
) t
hatbot
hthe par
ti
eshav
e notbeen abl
etol
i
ve
t
oget
her
;

(
ii
i) t
hatboththepart
ieshavemutual
l
yagr
eedt
hatt
hei
r
marr
iageshoul
dbedissolv
ed;

InRav i
shankerV/ sSmt.Sharda, t
heM. P.HighCourtdeclaredthattherei
s
nothingtoindicatethatpar
ti
esseeki ngdi v
orcebymut ualconsentarerequir
edto
proveanythinginaddi ti
ontothatlai
ddowni nSec.13-B.Thev i
ewt hataground
whichexistedear l
ier,i
naddit
iontot hatcontainedinSec.13–B,shoul dalsobe
proved,wouldr esultinnul
li
fyi
ngthev eryobjectofpr
ov i
dingthi
snewgr oundof
di
v or
cebyi nserti
onofSec.13- B.

TheKar nat
akaHighCourti
nKr i
shnaMurtiRaoV/sKamal
ashi
,hassai
d
thatonfi
li
ngapet i
ti
onj
oint
lybyt
hewifeandhusbandthef
oll
owi
ngpoi
ntsar
eto
beprovedforgett
ingadecr
eeundert
hissect
ion:

1. Theparti
estomar
ri
agear
eli
vi
ngsepar
atel
yforaper
iodofone
yearormore;

2. t
heycoul
dnotl
i
vet
oget
her
;

3. t
heyhavereachedacompr
omi
set
hatt
heywoul
ddi
ssol
vet
he
mar
ri
age;

4. t
hatt
heyhav
econsent
edt
odi
vor
cenotunderanyf
orceorf
raud

32
 orunderunduei
nfl
uence.

Thecourtsshoul
dspecial
l
yt akeintoconsi
der
ati
ont hatt
hewif
e’sconsent
hasnotbeent akenbyforceorbyinfl
uencingher.Theresponsi
bil
i
tyoftheCourt
i
ncreasesinthosecaseswherethewi f
ei sfoundt
obeil
lit
erate.

Sec.14:Nopeti
ti
onofdi
vor
cet
obepr
esent
edbef
oreexpi
ryofone
yearofmar
ri
age:
Div
orcehasnotbeenmadeeasy
,inasmuchasoneyearmustel
apseaf
ter
mar
ri
agetogi
vejur
isdi
cti
ont
ocour
ttoentert
ainapet
it
ionf
ordi
vor
ce.

REMARRI
AGE{SECTI
ON15}

Di
vor
cedper
sonswhenmaymar
ryagai
n:
Undertheoldlaw,or
dinar
ilyaHi ndumar r
iagecouldnotbedi ssol
v ed,
becauset hemarri
ageamongHi nduswasr egardedasaper manenttieand
sacrament,hencetheremarr
iagedur i
ngt heli
feti
meoft hehusbandwasnot
possibl
e. Butunderthepresentlaw,apr ovi
sionfordissol
uti
onofmar r
iage
thr
oughdi vor
cehasbeenmade,sor emarr
iagehasbeendecl ar
edlawful
.

Accordi
ngtoSec.15, whereamarriagehasbeendissol
vedbyadecr eeof
div
orceandeitherther
ei snor i
ghtofappealagainstthedecreeor,i
fthereis
suchar i
ghtofappealtheti
mef orappealhasexpiredwit
houtanappealhaving
beenpresent
edoranappealhasbeenpr esentedbuthasbeendi smi
sseditshal
l
belawfulf
oreit
herpart
ytothemar r
iagetomarryagain.

Thus,af
terpassi
ngthedecreeofdi
vor
ce,thepar
ti
est
othemar
ri
age,
may
mar
ryagai
n,i
fthefol
lowi
ngcondit
ionsar
esati
sfi
ed:-

1.Whenamar ri
agehasbeendi
ssol
vedandt
her
eisnor
ightofappeal
agai
nstt
hedecr
eeofcour
t;

2.I
ft her
eissuchar
ightofappealbutt
het
imehasbeenexpi
redwi
thout
f
il
inganappeal
;

3.Anappeal
hasbeenf
il
edbuthasbeendi
smi
ssed;

InKa dimbiniV/sResham Lal ,thehusbandgotremarri

ed.Theappeal
againstdecreeofdivor
cewasfil
edwi t
hinperi
odofli
mit
ati
on.Thecour theld
thatthesecondmarri
ageofhusbandcouldnotbesai
dtobelegalunderSec.15
andt heappealwoul
dnotbecomeinf
ructuous.

MAI
NTENANCE

Mai
ntenance‘
pendent
eli
te’
andexpensesofpr
oceedi
ngs–Sec.
24
Thi
ssect
ionmakespr
ovi
sionf
orgr
antofmai
ntenancependent
eli
teand

33
expenses ofproceedi
ngs to ei
therspouse and Sec.25 contai
ns si
mil
ar
provi
sionsr
egar
dingpaymentofpermanental
i
monyandmai nt
enance.

Whomayappl
y?
In sev
eralcases it was argued that t
he phrase ‘or
der t
he
respondenttopaythepeti
tionertheexpensesoft hepr
oceedi
ng’,l
aysdowna
defini
terul
ethatonl
yini
ti
atoroftheproceedingsundert
heActcangetal i
mony
underSec.24.

I
nChitr
aLekhav /sRanji
tRai,i
thasbeenlai
ddownt hattheobjectbehind
Sec.24istopr ovidefi
nanci
alassistancetotheindigentspouset omai ntain
hersel
fduri
ngthependencyoft heproceedi
ngsandalsotohav esuff
icientf
unds
todefendorcar r
yonthelit
igat
ionsot hatt
hespousedoesnotundul ysufferin
theconductofthecaseforwantoffunds.

Per
manental
i
monyandmai
ntenance–Sec.25
Thecourthasbeenempower edunderSec.25t odi
recttheopposi
tepart
y
atthetimeofdecr eeorsubsequent
lyt
opaymai ntenancetothepeti
ti
oner.The
courtshallt
akeint
oaccountthestat
usoftheoppositepart
yinf i
xi
ngtheamount
formaintenance.

Thecourthasbeenempower edtoresci
ndormodi f
ytheor deratany
subsequentstageifthecir
cumstancessowar r
ant
;andi fpet
it
ionerbecomes
unchasteorremarri
esatanysubsequentst
age,t
hecourtmayattheinst
anceof
theotherpartyvary,modi
fyorresci
ndanysuchor derinsuchmannerast he
courtmaydeem just.

Theappl
icati
onforper
manentalimonyismai nt
ainabl
eev enincasesof
decreesfordiv
or ceandannulmentofmar ri
agealthought her el
ati
onshi
pof
husbandandwifedoesnotexi
stbetweenthepart
iesaft
erpassingofthedecree.

Wher eafterthegrantofadecr eefordivor

cet othehusband,thewife
appli
esf orgrantofmai nt
enance,t
hecourtisenti
tl
edtotakeint
oconsi der
ati
on
theconductoft hewi f
eandi ftheconducti
sobjecti
onabl
e,i
tmaydi senti
tl
ethe
wifefrom get t
inganymai nt
enance.Thissecti
onmakesdepar turefrom the
anal
ogousr ul
esf oundinotherActsrel
ati
ngtopay mentofpermanental i
mony
andmai ntenance.

Fact
um Val
et:
Thedoct ri
neoff act
um valetwasqui tewellknownt oHi nduLaw t ext
-
writer
s;namely ,af actcannotbealteredbyahundr edtexts.Thedoct r
inei nthe
caseofmar r
iageofa mi norwast hatt hef act
um ofmar riage,which was
solemnized,coul d notbe undone by r eason ofa l ar ge numberofl egal
prohibi
ti
onst ot hecontrary.But,underSec. 4oftheHinduMar ri
ageAct,thereis
cl
earpr ovi
siont hatanyt ext
,rul
eorinterpr
et at
ionofHinduLaworanycust om or
usageaspar toft hatlaw inforceimmedi atelybefor
et hecommencementof

34
HinduMar
ri
ageActshal
lceaset
ohav
eef
fecti
nsof
arasi
tisi
nconsi
stentwi
th
anyoft
heprov
isi
onsoft
heAct.

UNI
T-I
II

Hi
nduundi vi
dedf amil
y–Mi t
akshar
ajointfamily–f or
mat i
on
andincident
s–pr opertyunderbothschools–Kar tha:hi
sposi ti
on,
Powers,Pr i
vi
leges and obl
igat
ions – Debt
s – Doct r
ine ofPious
obl
igati
on – Par t
it
ion and Reunion – Reli
gious and Char i
table
Endowment .
Hi
nduundi
vi
dedf
ami
l
y
Mitakshar
a j oint f ami
l
y –
for
mat i
onandincident
s–proper
ty
under bot hschools

Thei nsti
tut
ionofthej ointHinduf ami
lyispecul
iaranduni queinsti
tut
ion
oftheHi ndus.I thasit
sor igininancienttextsandwriti
ngsofSmr i
ti
kars.The
j
ointfami l
ysy st
em hasinf actspr ungfrom theanci
entpatri
archalfamil
ywhi ch
canbesai dt obetheearl
iestuni tofhumansoci et
y.

Theinductionofcopar
cener
sbybi rt
hint
othefamil
y,consi
derabl
ywhitt
led
downt heabsol utepoweroft hefather. TheJointHinduf amil
y,whichisa
creat
ureofl aw,enf ol
dswi t
hinitthelinealmaledescendantsofacommon
ancestorandincludesthei
rmother
s,wivesorwidowsandunmar ri
eddaughter
s.

Joi
ntFami
l
y–i
tsnat
ureandconst
it
uti
on:

Joi
nt-f
amil
ysystem i
sacher
ishedinst
it
uti
onoftheHi
ndusandapeculiar
character
ist
icoftheirsoci
ety
;the j
ointand undi
vi
ded f
amil
yist he nor
mal
conditi
onofHindusociet
y.

Ajoi
ntHi
nduf
amil
y,atbestmaybedefi
nedbyst
ati
ngthejoi
ntnessof
member
sofwhom iti
smadeup.Thus,‘ i
tconsi
stsofallper
sonslineal
l
y

35
descendedfrom acommonancestorandincludesthei
rwi
vesandunmar
ri
ed
daughter
s. A daught
erceasest
obet hememberofherf ather
’sf
ami
lyon
marri
age,andbecomesamemberofherhusband’sf
amily
.

UndertheMi t
aksharalaw,possessionofpr oper
tyisnotanecessar y
requi
sit
ef ort
heconsti
tuti
onofajoi
ntf ami
lythoughwherepersonsli
vetogether
,
j
ointinf ood and worshi
p,itisdiff
icul
tto conceiveoftheirpossession no
proper
ty,whatever
,suchasor di
nar
yhouse-holdarti
cleswhi
cht heywouldenjoy
i
ncommon.

Member
soft
hej
ointf
ami
l
y:

Themember
sofaj
ointf
ami
l
yconsi
stoft
hef
oll
owi
ng:

Mal
es:

a)Thoset hatarel
i
neall
yconnectedi
nthemalel
i
ne.
b)Collat
erals.
c)Relati
vesbyadopti
on.
d)Poordependants.
e)Sonbor noutofmar ri
agebetweenaHindumanandChr
ist
ianwoman
underSpecialMarr
iageAct.

Femal
es:

a)Thewif
eort
hewi dowedwi
feofamal
emember
.
b)Hismai
dendaughter
s.

Managementofj
ointf
ami
l
y:

Theaff
airsofajoi
ntf
amilyaremanagedbyt heheadofthejointfamil
y
whoi scall
edthemanageror‘
karta’
.Thefat
her,ifli
vingwouldgener
allybethe
‘
Karta’oftheJointHi
ndufamil
y.Hei stherepresentati
veofthefamilyandis
consider
edsupremeinthemanagementoft
heproper ty.

Enj
oymentofj
ointf
ami
l
ypr
oper
ty:

Ev
erymemberofaMi
takshar
ajoi
ntf
ami
l
yhasgotcer
tai
nri
ght
s,suchas:

(
1)Ther
ightt
omai
ntenanceandr
esi
dence,

(
2)Ther
ightt
ohav
eapar
ti
ti
on,

(
3)Ther
ightt
ocal
lforanaccountasi
nci
dent
alt
other
ight
,

(
4)Ther
ightt
ojoi
ntpossessi
onandenj
oyment
,et
c.,

Hi
nduCopar
cenar
y:

36
 AHinducopar cenaryisamuchnarr
owerbodyt hanajoi
ntHindufamil
y.It
i
ncl
udesonlythosewhoacqui r
ebybir
thaninteresti
nthejoi
ntoras,iti
scall
ed
‘
copar
cenarypropert
y ’
,thesebei
ngthesons,grandsonsandgreat
-gr
andsonsof
t
heholderoft
hej oi
ntpropertyf
orthet
imebeing.

TheessenceofacoparcenaryundertheMit
akshar
a,iscommunityof
i
nterestandunit
yofpossessi
onbetweenal lt
hemembersofthecopar
cenar
y.
Eachcoparcenerisent
it
ledt
ojointpossessi
onandenj
oymentofthecommon
propert
y.

Copar
cenar
ywi
thi
nacopar
cenar
y:

Therecanbecopar cenar ywithinal ar

gercopar cenar
yandi tcanil
l
ustrated
fr
om t heforegoi
ngillust
ration.Supposi ngCi nthatill
ustr
ati
onmakessepar ate
acquisit
ionanddiesandt hesamei si nheri
tedbyhi ssonsM andN;nowi fOi s
subsequentlyborntoN, heget sar i
ghtbybi rt
hinitandt hepropertycanbehel d
byC’sdescendant swi t
hal lthei nci
dent sofcopar cenarypropert
yseparatefrom
andindependentoft hecopar cenarypr opert
ybelongingt othelargecoparcenary
consi
st i
ngalsoofthecol l
ateral rel
ationsofC.

Feat
uresofowner
shi
p:

Thedi
sti
nct
ivef
eat
uresofaMi
takshar
acopar
cenar
yar
easf
oll
ows:
-

1.Uni
tyofowner
shi
p:

Theessent
ialfeat
ureofaMi takshar
acopar
cenar
ypropert
yisunit
yof
owner
shipandcommuni t
yofi
nterest
.Theownershi
pofcopar
cenarypr
oper
tyi
s
i
nthewholebodyofthecopar
ceners.

2.I
ndet
ermi
nabi
l
ityofshar
es:

Theinter
estofamemberofacopar cenar
yinthecoparcenaryproper
tyi
s
afl
uctuat
ingint
erestcapabl
eofbeingenl
argedbydeathsi
nt hefamilyandli
abl
e
tobedimini
shedbybi r
thsinthef
amily
.Itisonlyonaparti
ti
ont hathebecomes
ent
it
ledtoadefini
teshare.

3.Communi
tyofi
nter
est
:

Thisf
eatureofcoparcenar
ysigni
fi
esthatnocopar
ceneri
sent
it
ledt
oany
speci
alinter
estinthecoparcenar
yproper
ty,
norisheorsheenti
tl
edt
oexcl
usi
ve
possessionofanypartoftheproper
ty.

4.Daught
erofacopar
cenermayal
sobeacopar
cener
:

BeforetheHinduSuccessi
on(Amendment
)Act
,2005,
nof
emal
ecoul
dbe
acoparcenerundert
heMitakshar
aLaw.

5.Ri
ghtbybi
rt
h:

37
 The copar
cenary propertyis a pr
oper
tyi
n whi
ch t
he i
ssues oft
he
copar
cener
sacquireaninterestbybi
rt
h.

6.Abr
ogat
ionoft
her
uleofsur
viv
orshi
p:

Beforet
heHi nduSuccessi
on( Amendment)Act
,2005,oneoft hemost
di
sti
nguishingf
eatureofMi t
aksharacoparcenar
ywast hatonthedeathofa
copar
cenerhisi
nteresti
nthecoparcenar
ypropert
ydi
dnotpassbysuccessi
onto
hi
sheirs.

Copar
cenar
ywhencomest
oanend:

AHi
nducopar
cenar
ycomest
oanendi
ntwoway
s,namel
y:

a)Bypar
ti
ti
on,

b)Byt
hedeat
hoft
hel
astsur
viv
ingcopar
cener
.

Cl
assi
fi
cat
ionofPr
oper
ty:

Pr
oper
tyunderHi
nduLawmaybedi
vi
dedi
ntwocl
asses;
namel
y:

1.Joi
nt-
fami
l
ypr
oper
tyor‘
copar
cenar
ypr
oper
ty’
.

2.Separ
atepr
oper
tyor‘
sel
f-
acqui
redpr
oper
ty’
.

1.Joi
nt-
fami
l
ypr
oper
tyor‘
copar
cenar
ypr
oper
ty’
.

I
tisthepropertyi
nwhichallt
hecoparcener
shav
ecommuni
tyofi
nter
estand
uni
tyofpossessi
on.Suchpr
opert
yconsi
stsof:

a)ancest
ral
proper
ty;

b)pr
oper
tyj
oint
lyacqui
redbyt
hemember
soft
hej
ointf
ami
l
y;

c)separ
ateproper
tyofamember‘thrownint
othecommonst
ock’
,wi
tht
he
i
ntent
ionofabandoni
ngal
lsepar
ateclai
msonit
;

d)proper
tyacquir
edbyal
loranyoft
hecopar
cener
swi
tht
heai
dofj
oint
famil
yfunds;

a)Ancest
ral
proper
ty:

Ancestr
alpr
opertyisspeci
eofj oi
ntfamilyorcoparcenar
ypropert
y.byt he
phrase‘ancestr
alproper
ty’ismeantt hatpropertywhichdescendsfrom father
,
fat
her’
sf at
herorfather’
sf at
her’
sfather.Thisi stheonlypropert
yinwhichhi s
i
ssues, v
iz.
,son,gr
andsonandgr eatgrandsonandal sodaughterofaMitakshara

38
copar
ceneracqui
reani
nter
estwi
thhi
m bybi
rt
h.

Itisthepr opertyinherit
edbyamal eorf emaleHindufrom hisfat
her,
father
’sfatherorf ather’
sf ather.I tisveryi mport
antto notethattheonly
propert
ythatcanbecal l
edancest r
alisthepr opert
yinher
itedbyaHi ndufrom
anyoneofhi sthreeimmedi atepaternalancest
or smenti
onedaboveandt heonl
y
personswhoacqui r
eani nt
erestinitbybirtharethesons,son’
ssonandson’ s
sonanddaught erofMi taksharacoparcener.

b)Pr
oper
tyj
oint
lyacqui
redbyt
hemember
soft
hej
ointf
ami
l
y:

Wherepropertyhasbeenacquiredbythemember sofjointfami
l
ybyt
heir
j
ointlabourwhet heri
nabusi ness,prof
essi
onorv ocat
ion,wit
ht heai
dofj
oint
f
ami l
ypropert
y,itbecomesjoi
ntf amil
yorcoper
cenaryproper
ty.

c)Separ
atepr
oper
tyofamember‘
thr
owni
ntot
hecommon
st
ock:

Amemberofaj oi
nt-fami
lymay ,undercertai
ncircumstances,acqui
re
propertytohol ditexclusi
velyashi sown.Buti fthecoparcenerhasv ol
untar
il
y
thrown hi s sel
f-
acquired propert
yi ntothe j
ointfunds withthe int
enti
on of
abandoni ngal lseparateclaimst oi t
,itwouldbej oi
ntpr oper
tysoast obe
divisi
bleamongal lthemember s.

d)Pr
oper
tyacqui
redbyalloranyoft
hecopar
cener
swi
tht
he
ai
d ofj oi
ntf
amilyf
unds:

Propert
yacqui redwi t
ht heaidandassi st
anceofj ointfamil
ypr opert
y,
proper
typurchasedoutofsuchi ncome,theproceedsofsal eormor tgageof
suchproper
tyandpr opertypurchasedoutofsuchpr oceedsarealsojoi
nt-f
amily
proper
ty.wher epropertyisacquiredbymember sofaj oi
ntHinduMi takshara
famil
youtofabusi nesscar r
iedonbyt hem,therewoul dbepresumpt i
ont hat
suchproper
tyisthej oi
ntpropertyofthemember sthoughthebusinessmaynot
havebeenancestralorstart
edwi t
hnucleusofancestralf
unds.

2.Separ
atepr
oper
tyor‘
sel
f-
acqui
redpr
oper
ty’
.

Pr
opert
ywhi chisnotjointiscall
edseparateor
self
-acquiredpropert
y. A Hi
ndu,eveni fhebej oi
nt,maypossesssepar at
e
property.Hei ssoleownerofsuchpropert
yandhasexcl usi
vepossessi
onand
owner shipoveri
t.Noothermemberoft hecopar
cenaryacquiresanyi
nteresti
n
i
tbybi rth.

Propert
yacquir
edbyaHi
nduinanyoft
hefol
lowi
ngway sishissel
f-
acqui
redor
separat
epropert
yev
ent
houghheisamemberofajoi
ntHinduFamil
y:

1.Proper
tyacqui
redbyaHindubyhisownexert
ionandnotbyjoi
ntl
abour
withothermembersofthejoi
ntfamil
yprov
ideditisobt
ainedwi
thout
detr
imenttoj
oint
-f
ami
lypr
opert
y.

39
 2.Pr
oper
tyinheri
ted byaHi ndufrom anyper
sonot
hert
hanhi
sfat
her
,
gr
andf
atherorgreatgr
andf
ather
.

3.Proper
tyobtai
nedbyaHinduashi
sshar
eofpar
ti
ti
onofaJoi
ntHi
ndu
famil
y,pr
ovi
dedhehasnoi
ssue.

4.Pr
oper
tydevolvi
ngonasol e-
sur
vivi
ngcoparcenerpr
ovi
dedther
eisno
wi
dowinexi
stencet
hathaspowertoadoptorhasachi
ldi
nherwomb.

5.Proper
tyobtainedbyaHi ndubyagiftorwil
l
,unlessmadebyhisfat
her
,
fat
her’
sfather,f
ather
’sf
ather
’sf
atherfort
hebenefi
toft
hefami
lyandnot
excl
usi
velyforhimsel
f.

6.Proper
tyobtai
nedbygi f
tofancest
ralmov
abl
epr
oper
tymadebyt
he
fat
herthr
oughaff
ect
ion.

7.Pr
oper
tyobt
ainedbyaHi
ndubygr
antf
rom t
heGov
ernment
.

8.Joi
nt-f
amil
ypropertylosttothej
ointfamil
yandsubsequentl
yrecovered
byamembert hereofwithoutt
heassi
stanceofj
ointf
undsfr
om astranger
hol
dingadver
selytothefamily
.

9.I
ncomeofsepar
atepr
oper
tyasgi
venabov
e.

10.
Mar
ri
agegi
ft–al
lmar
ri
agegi
ft
srecei
vedbyamember
.

Poi
ntsofsi
mil
ari
tybet
weenDay
abhagaandMi
takshar
acopar
cenar
y:

Thef
oll
owi
ngar
ethepoi
ntsofsi
mil
ari
tybet
weent
het
wosy
stemsofl
aw:

1.Theconceptionofancest r
alpropert
yaswel
lasitsdefi
nit
ionist
hesame.
Ancest
ralpropertyaccordingtobothconsi
stsofproper
tyinher
it
edfr
om
fat
her,
grandfatherorgreat-gr
andfat
her
.

2.A coparcenar
y cannotstar
twit
hf emales,though accor
ding t
othe
Dayabhagaafemalecanbecomeacopar
cener.

3.Thepower
sofamanagerofaj
oint
-f
ami
l
yar
ethesame.

4.Ev
eryadul
tcopar
cenerhasar
ightt
ocal
lforpar
ti
ti
onoft
hecopar
cenar
y
pr
oper
ty.

5.Thepr esumpti
onswithr egar
dtoj oi
nt-
famil
yandjoi
nt-
famil
ypropert
y
whichapplytocasesundertheMit
aksharaLawwoul
dseem toappl
yalso
tocasesundertheDayabhagaLaw.

6.I
nbot
h,t
hecopar
cenar
ymal
econsi
stofmal
esandf
emal
es.

Poi
ntsofdi
sti
nct
ionbet
weenDay
abhagaandMi
takshar
aCopar
cener
y:

Aj
oint
-f
ami
l
ygov
ernedbyDay
abhagaLawdi
ff
ersf
rom t
heonegov
erned

40
byMi
takshar
aLawi
nthef
oll
owi
ngr
espect
s:

1.I
nter
estbyBi
rt
h:

UndertheDayabhagasonsdonotacqui
reani
nter
esti
nthepr
oper
tyby
bi
rt
hwhi
leunderMi
taksharat
heydo.

2.Def
inedshar
es:

UnderMitakshar
aallt
hemembersholdt
hepropert
yjoi
ntl
yandnoshar
es
ar
edef
ined.UndertheDay
abhagaeachhei
rhol
dsdeter
minedshare.

3.Uni
tyofowner
shi
p:

Asanat
uralcorol
l
aryoft
heabov e,thereisaunityofowner shi
punder
Mi
takshar
awhi
l
et her
eisonl
yuni
tyofpossessionunderDayabhaga.

4.Fat
her
’sr
ightofdi
sposi
ti
on:

Afatheri
naMi takshar
aj oi
ntfamilycannotdi
sposeoft heancest
ral
pr
oper
tywi
thoutt
heconsentofthecoparcener
sbutinDayabhagat
hefat
hercan
doso.

5.Ri
ghtt
oaccount
:

ThemembersofaDayabhagaj
ointf
ami
l
ycancal
lthemanagingmembers
f
oran accountofhismanagementoft hefami
l
ywhich a coparcenerofa
Mit
akshar
ajoi
ntf
amil
ycannotdo.

6.Ri
ghtt
oPar
ti
ti
on:

UnderDayabhagathesonsdonotpossessanyr i
ghtt
odemandpar t
it
ion
evenofancest
ralest
atedur
ingthel
i
fet
imeoffather
;underMi
takshar
atheyhave
thi
sri
ght.

7.Ri
ghtofpur
chaseratcour
tsal
e:

InDayabhagaapurchaseratacour
tsaleofshar
eofacoparcenerisent
it
led
tobeputintojoi
ntpossessi
onwi t
htheothercopar
cenerstotheextentofthe
shar
epurchased.I
nMi t
aksharahedoesnotacqui
reanysuchri
ght
.

Kar
tha:
hisposi
ti
on,
Power
s,Pr
ivi
l
egesandobl
i
gat
ions

Theaffai
rsofajoi
ntf
ami
l
y,consi
sti
ngofgeneral
l
ypardanashinl
adi
esand
i
nfants,cannotbemanagedbyal lthemembersofi t,norar
et heymanaged
j
oint
lybyalltheadultmal
emembers,pr
obabl
ybyreasonoftheinequal
i
tyi
nthei
r

41
rank;butordi
nar i
lyt
heyare,bytheconsentofallmanagedbyasi nglemal e
memberwhoi st heheadofthefamilybyr
easonsofhisseni
ori
tyandsuperior
rank.Hei scalledthemanagerorKar t
aofthefamil
y.Thev eryi
deaoft here
beingtwokar t
asofj oi
ntHindufamil
ydoesnotappearpri
maf aci
e,consi
stent
withtheconceptofaKartaofthej
ointHi
ndufamil
y.

WhomayactasKar
ta?

Thef ather,i
fli
ving,woul
dgener allybet hemangerorKar t
aoft hejoi
nt
Hinduf amil
y.Thus,i thasbeenhel dthat“ t
hefatherisinallcasesnat ural
l
yand
i
nt hecaseofi nf
antsons,necessari
ly,themanageroft hejoi
ntf amilyestate.
Andwher ef atherisnotal i
veandt hef amil
yconsi stsofbr others,theelder
brother,i
ntheabsenceofanyev idencetot hecontrary
, shoul
dbepr esumedt obe
themanageroft hefami l
y. Ami norcannotbet hemanagerofaj ointHindu
family.

Posi
ti
onofKar
ta:

Thepositi
onofamanagerorKart
ainajointHindufamil
yisnotanal
ogous
t
oanyknownsy st
em ofl
aw.Neit
hertheter
m“ part
ner”nor‘pr
inci
pal
’nor‘
agent
’
wi
ll
str
ict
lyappl
y.

Asagener alrul
eseni
ormemberexerci
sestherightofmanagementin
j
ointHindufami
ly.Butt heseni
ormembermaygiveuphi sr i
ghtandajuni
or
memberoft hef
ami l
ycanactasKar
tawi
ththeconsentofallot
hermembersof
j
ointf
ami l
y.

(
A)Power
sofManager(
Kar
ta)
:

Acoparcenerwhoi samanagerorKar t
ahasneitherl
argerpr
opri
etar
y
i
nter
estint
hef amil
ypropert
ynoranylar
gerr
ightst
oenjoythesame,thanany
ot
hercopar
cener.Heisalsonotent
it
ledt
oanyremuner
ati
on.

Thefol
l
owi
ngar
ethegener
alpower
soft
hemanager(
Kar
ta)ofaj
oint
Hi
nduf
amil
y:

1.Poweroverincomeandexpendi t
ure.
2.Powertomanagej oint-
familybusi
ness.
3.Powertocontractdebtf orfamilypur
poses.
4.Powertocontract.
5.Powertorefertoarbitrati
on.
6.Powerofcompr omi se.
7.Powertogivedischar ge.
8.Powertoacknowl edgedebt s.
9.Powertorepresentinsui ts,
etc.
10.
Powerofali
enationofj oint-
famil
yproper
tyforl
egalnecessi
tyorf
or

42
 t
hebenef
itoft
heest
ate.

1.Powerov
eri
ncomeandexpendi
tur
e:

TheKartahascontrolovert
heincome, expendi
tur
eandisthecustodi
anof
thesurplus,i
fany.Hei snotboundtoeconomi esorsavel i
keatr
usteeoragent,
solongashespendst heincomef orthepur poseoft hefamil
y,thatis,f
or
maintenance,educat
ion,marri
age,sr
addhaandot herrel
i
giouscer
emoniesofthe
coparcenersandofthemember softhei
rrespecti
vefamil
ies.

2.Powert
omanagej
oint
-f
ami
l
ybusi
ness:

TheKart
ahasthepowertomanagethejoi
ntfamil
ybusiness.Hisposi
tion
i
snotthatatr
usteeorofanagent,t
houghitmaybethatsomeofhi sduti
esand
f
unct
ionsappeartobesi
mil
arincharact
ert
othoseoftr
usteesstri
ctl
ysocall
ed.

3.Powert
ocont
ractdebtf
orf
ami
l
ypur
poses:

Thekar t
ahasi mpliedauthori
tyt
ocont ractdebt sforfamil
ypurposesand
famil
ybusi nesssoast obi ndthecopar
cenerst ot heextentonlyofthei
rint
erest
i
nt hej oi
nt-
familypropert
yandt headultcopar cenersper sonal
l
yalsoiftheybe
parti
est othecont r
actexpr essl
yorimpliedl
yori ftheysubsequentlyrat
if
yt he
contractandofmi norsift
heyr at
if
yonattaini
ngmaj ori
ty.

4.Powert
ocont
ract
:

The Kar
ta has the powerofmaki
ng contr
acts,giv
ing r
ecei
pts,and
compromisi
ngordischargi
ngcontr
act
sor
dinar
il
yinci
dentalt
othebusinessof
thef
amily
.

5.Powert
oref
ert
oar
bit
rat
ion:

TheKar tamayr ef
ertoarbi
tr
ati
onanymatt
erinvol
vi
ngthei
nter
estofj
oint
Hi
ndufamilyandtheothermembersofthef
amil
y,i
ncludi
ngminor
s,ar
eboundby
t
heref
erence,andconsequent
lybytheawar
dmadeuponi t.

6.Powerofcompr
omi
se:

TheKart
ahas,howev er
,nopowert ogiveupadebtduet othejoint-
famil
y
andtogi v
eupav al
uableit
em withoutanyret
urnorconsider
ati
on,thoughhehas
arighttosett
leaccountswiththedebtorsandtomakear easonablereducti
on
ei
thertowardsi
nter
estortowardsprinci
pali
ntheint
erestofthefamil
y.

7.Powert
ogi
vedi
schar
ge:

TheKartahaspowertogi
veav al
i
ddischar
gef ordebtduetothej
oint
fami
ly.Hence,i
foneofthemember
sisaminor,hecannotclai
mthebenef
itof
Sec.
7oftheLimit
ati
onAct.

43
 8.Powert
oacknowl
edgedebt
s:

TheKar t
ahaspowertoacknowledgeadebtormakeapar tpaymentofi
t
so as t
o extend t
he per
iod ofl
imit
at i
on. Buthe cannotexecut
eaf r
esh
pr
omissorynoteorabondsoastorevi
v eati
mebarr
eddebt .

9.Powert
orepr
esenti
nsui
tsandot
herpr
oceedi
ngs:

TheKart
amayrepr
esentthef
amilyi
ntheeventofasuitbyoragainsta
j
ointHi
ndufamil
yandt
heothermember
sarenotnecessar
ypar
ti
estothesame.

10.
Powerofal
i
enat
ion:

Thekart
acanali
enateforval
uethejointf
amil
ypr
opert
ysoast
obi
ndt
he
i
nter
estsoft
hecopar
ceners(adul
tsorminors)pr
ovi
dedi
tismade–

(a)Withtheconsentofallt
hecopar
cener
sinexi
stenceatt
het
imeof
al
i
enat
ion,
theybei
ngalladul
ts;

(
b)Forl
egal
necessi
ty;

(
c)Fort
hebenef
itoft
heest
ate.

Dut
iesandLi
abi
l
iti
esofManager(
Kar
ta)
:

Thefoll
owi
ngmaybementi
onedast
hedut
iesandl
i
abi
l
iti
esofamanager
ofJoi
ntHinduFamil
ypr
oper
ty:

1.Dutytor enderaccounts.
2.Dutytor eali
zedebtduet ot hefamil
y.
3.Dutytospendr easonabl
y .
4.Duty nott o st ar
ta new busi ness wit
houtt he consentoft he
coparceners.
5.Dutynott oalienatecoparcenaryproper
tywithout‘
legalnecessi
ty’or
fort
he‘ benefitoftheestate’.

1.Dut
ytor
enderaccount
s:

Thekart
ai sdut
yboundt or enderaccountstotheot hercoparceners
r
egardi
nghisdeali
ngwi
ththecoparcenar
ypropert
yandtheincomet hereof.But
a‘Kart
a’i
snotliabl
etoaccountforhispastdeali
ngswiththef amil
ypr oper
ty

44
unlessther
eisclearpr
oofofmi
sappr
opr
iat
ionorf
raudul
entuseoft
hef
ami
l
y
fundsorestat
ebyhim.

2.Dut
ytor
eal
i
zedebtduet
othef
ami
l
y:

Itist hedutyoft hekar

tatomakeal lpossi
bleeff
ort
storeali
zet hedebts
duet ot hef amil
y.I tshoul
dbenot edthatthekartahasnopowert ogi veupa
debtduet ot hejointfamilyorgiveupav al
uabl
eclaim wit
houtanyr etur
nor
consideration,t
houghhehasar ighttosettl
eaccountswiththedebtorsandt o
makear easonablereducti
oneit
hertowardsinter
estortowardspri
ncipalinthe
i
nterestoft hefamily.

3.Dut
ytospendr
easonabl
y:

Itisalsoadutyoft he‘kart
a’t
ospendt hejoi
nt–familyf
undsr easonabl
y
andf orthepur poseofthef amil
y.Hei s,however,notundertheobligat
ionto
economi se orsav e as a agentort r
ustee would do.Buthe mustspend
reasonably,i
fnoteconomi cal
ly
.I fhespendsmor ethantheot hermember s
approve,thei
rremedyistodemandapar tit
ion.

4.Duty notto st
arta new busi
ness wi
thoutt
he consentoft
he
copar
cener
s:

A‘kart
a’whetherhebefat
herorotherseni
orcoparcener
,hasnoauthor
it
y
tostar
tanewbusi nesssoastoimposeuponmi normember stheri
skofanew
busi
ness,norcanhei mposesuchar i
skupont headultmember sexceptwi
th
thei
rconsent
,expr
essorimpl
ied.

5.Dut
ynott
oal
i
enat
ecopar
cenar
ypr
oper
ty:

I
tisi
ncumbentuponthe‘karta’
nottoal
i
enatejointfamil
yproper
tyexcept
wit
ht heconsentofal
lthecoparcenersorf
or‘
legalnecessit
y’orf
orthe‘benefi
t
oftheestat
e’.

Debt
s-Doct
ri
neofPi
ousobl
i
gat
ion

Thedoctr
ineofthepi
ousobl igati
onofthesonst opaytheirfather
’sdebt
hasbeenabol i
shedbySec.6( 4)oft heHinduSuccessi
onAct,asi texistsaft
er
theHinduSuccession(Amendment )Act,2005.Therefor
e,thelawdi scussedin
thi
srespectbelow isthepriorlaw asi tstoodbeforetheHi nduSuccessi on
(Amendment)Act ,
2005.

Li
abi
l
ityt
opaydebt
s:

The Hi
ndu Law mai
ntai
ns hi
gh sense ofmor
ali
ty as r
egar
ds

45
paymentofdebtsasitisdeemednecessar
yforthesalvat
ionofthedebtor
’ssoul
.
Thesons,grandsonsandgr eat
-gr
andsonshave,ther
efore,beenmadel i
ableto
paythedebtsoft hei
rancestor
siftheyhavenotbeeni ncurredfori
mmor alor
i
ll
egalpur
poses.

Accordingto‘Smr
it
is’t
henon-pay
mentofadebtwasr egar
dedasasi
n,
t
heconsequencesofwhi
chfol
lowthedebtoraf
terhi
sdeat
h.

Accordi
ngtoKaty
ayanasays:“hewhohav
ingrecei
vedasum l
entorthe
l
ikedoesnotrepayi
ttot
heowner,wil
lbebor
nhereaf
teri
nthecr
edi
tor
’shousea
slav
e,aser
vant,awomanoraquadruped”
.

Thus,t
hel
i
abi
l
ityt
othedebt
smaybesummar
izedundert
hef
oll
owi
ng
t
hreeheads:

(
1) Li
abi
l
ityofsepar
atepr
oper
ty:

Theseparat
epropertyofaHinduisunderal
lci
rcumst
ances
al
waysli
ablefr
ohispersonaldebt
swhetheri
ncurr
edforimmoralor
unl
awfulobj
ect
s.

(
2) Li
abi
li
tyofundi
vi
ded copar
cenar
y
i
nter
est:

I
thasnowbeenest abl
i
shedt hattheundi
vi
dedinterestofa
coparcenerinthecoparcenaryproperty,maybeat t
achedi nhis
l
ifet
imei nexecut
ionofadecr eeagainsthi
m andifsoattached,i
t
maybesol devenafterhi
sdeath.

(
3) Li
abi
l
ityofcopar
cenar
ypr
oper
ty:

Wherecopar cenaryconsistsofanancestorandhi ssons,

grandsonsandgr eat-grandsonsandtheancest
orsdies,thewhol
e
coparcenarypropertyisl i
ableforhi
sdebtsev enafterhisdeat
h
subjecttot hecondi ti
ont hatthedebtwasnoti ncurredforan
i
mmor alorunl
awful purpose.

Nat
ureofl
i
abi
l
iti
es–t
hreef
old:

Accordi
ngtoMay netheliabi
l
iti
esofaHi ndutopaydebt
scont
ract
edby
anot
herari
sesfrom t
hreedi
ff
erentsources.Namel
y:

1.Rel
i
gious:

46
 Therel
i
giousdutyofdi
schar
gingthedebtorfrom t
hesi
nofhi
sdebt
s–
obl
i
gat
ioni
nthecaseoft
hesonandgrandsonsonl
y.

2.Mor
al:

Themoraldut
yofdischar
gingthedebtcont
ract
edbyonewhoseasset
shav
e
passedi
ntothehandsofanother
.

3.Legal
:

Thel
egal
dut
yofpay
ingadebtcont
ract
edbyoneper
sonasagentofanot
her
.

1.Rel
i
giousDut
y:

Ther el
igiousobli
gati
oni sat t
achedt ot hesonaswel lasgrandsonand
accordingtoPr i
vyCounci
l,tothegr eat-
grandsonsalsoonthegroundthatal
lthe
thr
eear ecoparcener
swi thot hersbyt heirbirt
h. Furt
her,iti
sbasedont he
doctr
ineof“ piousobl
igat
ion”whi chmeanst hatasonhaspi ousdut
ytopayt he
fat
her’sdebtnotcontract
edf oril
legalorimmor alpur
poses.

TheDoct
ri
neofPi
ousObl
i
gat
ion–i
tsor
igi
n:

Thiswellknown doctri
nehasi tsor igi
ni nt heSmr i
tiwhi
ch regard non-
paymentofdebtasaposi ti
vesin,theev ilconsequencesofwhichf ol
low the
undischar
ged debtsevenint hewor ld aft
erwards. Itisforthepur poseof
rescuingthef
at herf
rom histormentsint henextwor l
dthatanobligati
oni s
i
mposedupont hesonstopaythei
rfather’
sdebts.

Manusay s:“Moneyduebyasur
etyori
dlypr
omisedorl
ostatapl
ayordue
forspi
ri
tuousliquororwhatr
emai
nsunpai
dofaf i
neandtaxorduty
,theson
shal
lnotbeobligedtopay
”.

Naradaisnotf
arbehindwhenhesays,“Afat
hermustnotpayt hedebtofhi
s
sonbutasonmustpayadebtcont ractedbyhisfat
herexcepti
ngt hosedebt
s
whi
ch have been cont
racted f
rom lov
e,anger,spir
it
uous li
quor,games or
bai
lments”
.

Yaj
nav
alky
ai nhisr
espectdeclar
es:“Asonhasnott opayinthi
sworl
dhis
fat
her’
sdebtincur
redf
orspiri
tuousli
quor,forgrat
if
icat
ionofl
ustorgambl
ing,
norafi
nenorwhatremainsunpaidofatol
l
; nori
dlegif
ts”
.

Ef
fectofj
udi
cial
deci
sionsont
hedoct
ri
ne:

Thedoct
ri
neasf ormulat
edinori
ginalt
ext
shasbeenmodifiedinsome
r
espectsbyj
udi
cialdeci
sions.I
tisal
iabi
lit
yconf
inedt
otheasset
sr ecei
vedby

47
hi
mi nhisshar
eofthejoi
nt-
fami
lypr
oper
tyortohi
sint
eresti
nt hesame.The
obl
igat
ionexi
stswhet
herthesonsar
emaj orormi
nororwhetherthefat
heri
s
al
iv
eordead.

Thef undamentalrul
eist
hataHi ndusonisnotl i
abl
efordebtcontr
acted
byhisf ather,whi
chisAy av
ahar
ika,i
.e.
,il
legal
,di
shonestori
mmor al
.Thef acts,
ci
rcumst ancesandconductoft hefatheraretobelookedint
otoascertai
nt he
natur
eandchar act
erofthedebt
.

Byv i
rt
ueoft hedoctrineofpiousobli
gation,
theinterestsofthesonsint
he
j
oint
-familypr opert
yarel iablefort hedebt soft hei
rf atheri n aj
oint
-f
amily
prov
idedt heywer enotincur r
edforanyill
egalorimmor alpur pose.Thecredi
tor
coul
dl egall
yat t
achandputupt osal etheright,t
it
leandi nterestoft
hesonsi n
thej
ointfami l
ypropert
y.

Li
abi
l
itywhenar
ises:

Theson’spiousdutytopayof fhi
sfather
’sdebtnotcontr
actedfori
ll
egal
orimmor alpurposes,
isapresentli
abil
it
yannexedtoboththefather
’sandson’s
i
nterestsintheancestr
alpr
opertyanddoesnotdependont hefactswhetherthe
fat
herisaliv
eordead.

Dur
ati
onofl
i
abi
l
ity
:

Thepiousobl
igat
ionofthesonst opaythefather
’sdebtssubsi
stsonl
yso
l
ongastheli
abil
it
yofthefathersubsi
sts.Thei
rli
abil
i
t yi
sneit
herjoi
ntnorsev
eral
.
I
tar
iseseveninfat
her’
slif
eti
meandnotmer el
yonhisdeath.

Av
yav
ahar
ikadebt(
unl
awf
uldebt
):

Exami
ningthetext
sci
tedabov
ewef
indt
hatt
hedebt
sincur
redf
ort
he
f
oll
owi
ngpur
posesareunl
awf
ul:

1.Debtsduef orspiri
tuousl i
quors;
2.debtsduef orlust;
3.debtsduef orgambl i
ng;
4.unpaidfi
nes;
5.unpaidtol
ls;
6.uselessgi
ftsorpr omi seswithoutconsider
ati
on;
7.promisesmadeundert heinf
luenceoflustorwr at
h;
8.commer ci
al debts;
9.any debtwhi ch is av y
avahari
ka whi ch i
sr ender
ed by Col
ebr
ook as
equival
enttoadebtf oracause“ repugnanttogoodmorals”
10.
Suretyshi
pdebt s.

Son’
sli
abi
l
itycl
assi
fi
ed:

48
 Thust
hel
i
abi
l
ityoft
hesonmaybecl
assi
fi
edasunder
:

1.Li
abi
l
ityf
ort
hedebtcontr
actedbef
orepar
ti
ti
on.
2.Li
abi
l
ityf
ort
hedebtscontr
actedaf
tert
hepart
it
ion.

2.Mor
alDut
y:

Themor aldut
yofdischargi
ngthedebtcont
ract
edbyonewhoseasset
shave
passedintothehandsofanot her.Iti
sone’smoraldutyt
opaythedebtsofa
persontowhosepr oper
tyonehassucceededasheir.Hewhoi
nheri
tst
heestat
e
ofanothermustpaysuchot her
’sdebt
s.

3.Legal
Dut
y:

Thel egaldutyofpayi
ngadebtcont ractedbyoneper sonasagentofanother
.
Withr espectt oamoneydebtoft hef ather,sonsmaybeboundbypr oper
proceedingst akenincourtoflaw byacr editoragai
nstthefat
her,al
thoughthe
sonsar enotmadepar ti
est ot
hesui t
.

Rul
esofDamdupat

TheruleofDamdupati
sabr
anchoftheHinduLawofdebt
s.Thereason
ofther ul
eisthattheHi
nduLawdi
dnotrecogni
zeanyrul
eofli
mitat
ionf
orthe
recov
er yofdebt
s.

Everydebt,whichwasl awful,wasbinding and r

ecov erabl
ef r
om the
debtori r
respecti
veoft heper i
odwhi chmayhav eelapsedsi ncet heori
ginal
l
iabili
tywasi ncurr
edandnor estr
icti
ononitsrecoverywasr ecognizedbeyond
thisthatatnot i
memor ethandoubl etheamountofthepri
ncipal moneycoul
dbe
claimed.Ther uleisofequi
tyandofgoodsenses.

Whati
sther
uleofDamdupat
?

TheruleofDamdupati saruleofHi ndulaw accor

dingtow whicht he
amountofinterestrecov
erabl
eatanyonet i
mecannotexceedt hepr i
nci
pal.
Whereapartoftheloanhasbeenpaid,t
heprinci
palf
orthepurposeoftherul
eof
Damdupati
st hebalanceofpri
nci
palremai
ningdueatthetimewhent heint
erest
cl
aimedint
hesui taccr
ued.

Butt
her ul
eofDamdupatdoesnotf
orbi
dcapi
tal
i
zat
ionofi
nter
esti
n
ar
rearbyasubsequentf
reshagr
eement
.

I
ll
ust
rat
ions:

1.Atakesaloanf
rom BofRs.2,
000/-atani
nter
est
,ther
ateofwhichi
s20%
perannum. B al
lowstheinter
est,toaccumul
ateandt hesuesA for

49
 recoveryofRs.5,
000/-asint
erest
,Bwil
lbeall
owedadecr eeonl
yforRs.
2,000/-astheint
erestbecausethei
nter
estcannotexceedthepri
nci
pal
amount .

2.Intheabov ei
l
lustr
ation,suppose,bef oreBsuedf orrecovery,Ahadpaid
anamountofRs.1, 000/-towardsinterest,wi
ththeresultt
hatBsuesAf or
Rs.2,000/-pl
usRs.1, 000/-i.
e.,Rs.3, 000/-
.Theent i
reamountofRs. 3,
000/-wil
lbedecreed,astheinterestisnotmor ethantheprincipal
.

Par
ti
ti
onandReuni
on
I
ntr
oduct
ion:

We hav e already seen thatunderMi takshar

a Law,t he essence of
coparcenaryisunityofowner shi
p. Noundiv i
dedmemberi nthecopar cenary
propertyhasanyspeci fi
cshareintheproper
tysol ongasthefamil
yisjoint.The
parti
ti
onspl i
tsupj ointownershipandascertai
nsanddef inestheshareoft he
severalcoparcener
s.Ev eryadultcopar
cenerhast heri
ghtobtai
nparti
ti
onoft he
j
ointfamilypropert
y.

Meani
ngofpar
ti
ti
on:

TheMi takshar
aLaw say
st hat“
Part
iti
onistheadjust
mentofdiv
erse
ri
ght
sr egardi
ngt hewhol
e,bydist
ri
but
ingthem orpar
ti
cularpor
ti
onsofthe
aggr
egate”.

Mayukhasay
st hat“par
ti
ti
onisonlyapart
icul
arcondi
ti
onoft
hemi
nd,
wher
eint
entiont
oseparat
econsti
tut
espar
ti
ti
on”
.

Wher et
hereisnoj oint–proper
tytodi
vide,
ther
ecanbeaparti
ti
onbyt he
meredeclarat
ion.‘Iam separat
ef rom t
hee’foraparti
ti
onmerel
yindi
catesa
stat
eofmi nd.Existenceofpropert
yisnotessenti
alf
orapar
ti
ti
onandr easons
forsev
eranceareimmat eri
al.

Part
it
ionoft
hej
ointHi
nduf
ami
l
ypr
oper
tymayt
akepl
aceatt
hei
nst
ance
oft
hef
oll
owing:

1.SonsandGr
andsonsandal
sodaught
ersoft
hecopar
cener
s:

UndertheMi t
akshar
aLaw t herightofason,agrandson and agreat
-
grandson,aswellasev eryotheradultmalememberofthecoparcenar
y,to
demandapar ti
ti
onevenagainstt
heconsentofot
her
shasbeenful
l
ysettl
ed.

2.Af
ter–bor
nsonsandaf
terbor
ndaught
ersofacopar
cener
:

50
 Aft
er–bor nsonsmaybeconsi der
edintwosets.Fi
rst
ly,
thosebornaswel l
asbegotten aft
ert hepart
iti
on and secondl
y,t
hoseborn aft
erpar t
it
ion but
begot
tenbeforeitorthosei
nthei
rmot her
’swombattheti
meofpar t
it
ion.

3.I
ll
egi
ti
mat
eSons:

Ani l
l
egit
imatesonamongt hethr
eer
egener
ateclasses,hav
ingnov est
ed
i
nterestint he pr
opert
y,cannotdemand a part
it
ion buthe is ent
it
led t
o
maintenanceoutofhi
sfather
’sest
ate.

4.Wi
dows:

AwidowthoughnotacoparcenerunderMit
akshar
aLaw,isenti
tl
edtoobtai
n
asharewhent heparti
ti
oni smadebet weenthecopar
ceners. However
,she
cannotdemandforapar
tit
ion.

5.Al
i
enee:

Anali
eneeofcopar
cener
’si
nter
est
,wher
eversuchal
i
enat
ioni
sval
i
d,hasal
so
ar
ightt
opart
it
ion.

6.Femal
eShar
es:

The ter
m ‘ f
emale shar
es i
ncl
ude t
hree types offemale members of
coparcenar
y,namel
y,t
hewi f
e,wi
dowedmotherandpater
nalgr
andmother
.

7.Adopt
edchi
l
dren:

Anadoptedchi
l
dist
reatedasanatur
albornchil
dandt
her
efor
ehewoul
dbe
ent
it
ledt
odemandapar
tit
ionanyt
imeaft
eradopt
ion.

Al
l
otmentofShar
es:

Thef
oll
owi
ngar
ether
ulesf
oral
l
otmentofshar
esonpar
ti
ti
on:

1)Onaparti
ti
onbetweenafatherandhischi
l
dren;each
chi
l
dtakesashar
eequalt
othatofhi
sfat
her.

2)When a j
ointf
ami
lyconsi
stsofbr
other
s,t
heyt
ake
equal
shar
esonpar
ti
ti
on.

3)Eachbr anchtakesperst i
rpesasr egardsev eryother
branchbutt hemember soft hesamebr anchtakeper
capitaasregardseachother.
4)Ont hedeathofacopar cenerleavi
ngissue,hisrightto
shareonpar ti
tionpassestohi si
ssues,providedeach
i
ssuebewi t
hint hel
i
mitsofcoparcenar
y.

51
Par
ti
ti
onhowef
fect
ed:

1.Part
it
ionbymer edecl ar
ati
ont oseparat
e.
2.Part
it
ionbynotice.
3.Part
it
ionbywill
.
4.Conversi
ontoanot herfait
h.
5.Marri
ageunderSpeci alMar r
iageAct,
1954.
6.Part
it
ionbyagreement .
7.Part
it
ionbyarbitr
ation.
8.Part
it
ionbyfather.
9.Part
it
ionbysuits.

Sui
tforpar
ti
ti
on:

Ev
eryadul
tcopar
cenerisenti
tl
edt osueforpar
ti
ti
onandi senti
tl
edt o
haveashareonparti
ti
on.Noot herpersonhassuchri
ght.Pri
ortotheHi ndu
Successi
on(Amendment)Act
,2005,
femaleshadnori
ghttodemandpart
it
ion.

Thi
sAmendi ngActhasmadet hedaught
erofacoparcener
,acopar cener
i
nherownr ightsandt herefor
esheisnow enti
tl
edtodemandpar ti
ti
onoft he
Mit
akshar
aCopar cenarypropert
yandshewouldgetshar
eequaltothatofason,
whenapar t
iti
ont akesplace.Someot herf
emales,(
Father
’swif
e,mot herand
gr
andmother)arealsoenti
tledtoashar
eonparti
ti
on.

RE–UNI
ON:

Asstat
edabov e,accordi
ngt oManu“onceapar t
it
ionismade,oncei sa
damselgi
veninmarri
age,oncedoesamansat ,‘
Igiv
e’–thesethreearebygood
mendoneoncef oral
landi rr
evocably
”.Theref
ore,thel
egalconsequencesofa
par
ti
ti
oncannotbecontrol
ledoraffect
edbythesubsequentconductofpart
ies.

Except
ion:

Re–uni
oni s,howev
er,anexcept
iontot
hisgener
alr
ulewhichi
sbasedon
t
het extofBrihaspatiwhosays:“Hewho,beingonceseparateddwell
sagain
t
hroughaffect
ionwithhisf
ather
,brot
herorpat
ernal
uncl
e,i
stermed“r
e-uni
ted”
.

TheMi takshar
a,theDay abhagaandMadrasSchoolstakethi
st extl
i
terall
y
andsaythatamemberofaj oi
ntf amil
yoncesepar
atedcanreuni
teonl ywit
ht he
fat
her,br
otherandpaternalunclebutnotwit
hanyotherr
elat
ions,
asf orexampl e,
agrandmotherorapat ernal
uncle’sson.

Hence,
accor
dingt
otheseschool
s,ar
e-uni
oncanonl
ytakepl
acebet
ween–

a)afat
herandsons;
b)br
other
s;

52
 c)apater
naluncleandnephews,andanyot
herr
e-uni
on,
suchasbet
ween
cousi
ns,i
sinvali
dandinoper
ati
ve.

I
nor dert
oconst i
tuteare-
uni on,ther
emustbeev idenceont hepar tofthe
part
iestor e-
uni
teinestateandi nterest.Themer efactofli
vingtogetheratt he
samepl aceofresidenceorcar r
yingonaj ointtradecannotconstitut
er e-uni
on.
Therecannotber e-
unionunlessther eisanagr eementbetweent heparti
est ore-
unit
einestatewiththeintent
iontopr eservetheirfor
merst at
usasmember sofa
j
ointfamily
.

Rel
i
giousandChar
it
abl
eEndowment

I
ntr
oduct
ion:
‘
I
tisforthebenefi
tofthewor shi
ppersthatt
her
eis
manif
estati
oninimagesoftheSupremeBeing,whi
chisbodiless,whi
chhasno
at
tr
ibute,
whichconsi
stsofpur
espir
itandwhichi
swithoutasecond’.

‘
A man shoul d always wi
thout being t ir
ed perfor
m with fai
th
i
sht
a(sacr
if
icesandpurt
a(worksofchar i
ty)
;thesebeingmadewi thf
ait
hand
wi
thhonestl
yacqui
redweal
thbecomeinexhausti
ble’
–Manu, 4226.

Whatar
eendowment
s?

Endowment sareproper t
iessetapartordedicatedbygi ftordev i
sef orthe
wor shi
pofsomepar ticul
ardei t
yorf ortheestabli
shmentormai ntenanceofa
rel
igiousorchar itabl
ei nst
ituti
on,orforthebenefitofthepubl i
corsomesect ion
ofthepubl icintheadv ancementofr eligi
on,knowledge,commer ce,health,
safety
oranyot herobjectbenef i
cialtomanki nd.Hospital,Schools,Universit
ies,alms-
housesf ordist
ributi
onoff oodt oBrahmanasort hepoor ,establi
shmentofi dols,
etc.,ar
ei nstancesoft hereligi
ousandchar i
tabl
eendowment s.

Ki
ndsofr
eli
giousendowment
s:

Rel
i
giousendowment
sar
eoft
woki
nds:

a)Publ
i
cendowment
s.

b)Pr
ivat
eendowment
s.

I
ntheBiharStat
eBoardofReli
giousTr
ustV/sRameshr
eyPr ashad,thePat
na
HighCourthadhel dthatpr
esenceoff ol
lowi
ngfeat
uresclearlyleadstothe
concl
usi
ont hatt
hetemplewi
ththeproper
ti
eswasapri
vatetr
ust:-

1) t
hatt
hetemplewasconstr
uct
edbythememberoft hefamil
y;
2) t
hattheprovi
si
onsweremadeintheSamar panamaandManager nama
f
orconti
nuousl
yworshi
ppi
ngthedeit
iesunderthesuperi
ntendenceand

53
 themanagementofthemember softhefamil
y;
3) thattheenti
reresponsibi
li
tiesforthemanagementoft het rustwere
placed on t
he member s of the famil
y and t
he controlov er t
he
managementwas excl usivelykeptint he f
amil
y. No st r
angerwas
associat
edwit
htheinsti
tuti
on;
4) thatther
ewasnointerf
erencebyt hepubl
icasamatterofr
ight;

Endowment–Howcr
eat
ed:

Forthepur
posesofthecreat
ionofanendowmentexceptofcour sewhen
theendowmenti screat
edbywill
,writi
ngisnotnecessary.Iftheendowmentis
created byawi l
l,t
hewi l
lmustbei n writ
ing and att
est
ed byatl easttwo
witnessesift
hecaseisgov
ernedbyt heIndi
anSuccessionAct.

Ev
eninthecaseofadedi cat
iontoani dol
,iti
snecessarytovestthe
proper
tyintr
ust
ees.Nor eli
giousceremonysuchasSankalpaorSamar panais
necessar
yinaclearandunequivocalmanif
estat
ionofthei
ntent
iontocr
eatethe
endowmentissuff
ici
entt
oconst i
tutededi
cati
on.

Essent
ial :
sofendowment

Essent
ial
sofav
ali
dendowment
,ar
easf
oll
ows:

(
1) Absol
utededi
cat
ion:

Inordert
ocr eat
eav ali
dendowment,thedonormustdedi
cat etheproper t
y
absolut
elyand in perpetui
ty,f
orthe worshi
p ofa dei
ty,orf ora par t
icul
ar
chari
tabl
epurpose,thedonormustdivesthimsel
foft
hebenefi
cialint
erestinthe
propert
y.

(
2) Obj
ectmustbedef
ini
te:

Theobjectofthegif
tmustbeadefi
nit
eidol
,oradefini
techari
tabl
eobj
ect
.
Gi
ftorbequestt
odharmaisi
nval
i
dforv
aguenessanduncert
aint
y.

(
3) Pr
oper
tymustbespeci
fc:
i

Noendowmenti sv al
i
dunlesssomedefi
nit
eproper
tyi
sdedi
cat
ed. Any
uncer
tai
ntyregar
dingthesubj
ect-
matt
eroft
hebequestwoul
dbefat
altothe
val
idi
tyofendowment.

(
4) Set
tl
orshoul
dbecapabl
eofcr
eat
ingendowment
:

Thesett
lormustbeamaj or,orsoundmind,andmustnotsuff
erf
rom any
l
egaldisqual
if
icati
on.AHindu,gov er
nedbyMitakshar
aLaw,candedi
catehis
separat
eorself-
acqui
redpr
opert
y ,
butnothi
sint
eresti
ncopar
cenar
y.

54
 (
5) Endowmentmustnotbeopposedt
oanyl
aw:

Bequest
stoidolsandt empl
esar enoti
nval
i
dfort
ransgr
essi
ngt
hatr
ule
whi
chforbi
dst
hecreat
ionofper
petui
ti
es.

Mat
h,Dev
ast
hanam andDhar
mshal
a:

Apar
tfrom publ
i
cpriv
ateendowment
sther
earesomeotherkindsof
r
eli
giousendowment swhi
char ever
ypopul
aramongtheHi
ndus. Theyare
Maths,Devast
hanamsandDharmshal
as.

Mat
h:
Reli
gious inst
it
uti
ons inI ndia maybe br oadlydivi
ded intotwo
classes;Idolt
emplesandMat hs,IdoltemplesorDev ast
hanamsar eintendedfor
thewor shipofidol
, eit
herbythegener alpubli
c,orbysomeconsi derabl
esection
ofit.Themanageroft hetempleorDev ast
hanam iscall
edShebait,
ont heother
hand, Mathconnotesanabodef orrel
igiousstudent
sorSany asi
sanddi ff
usionof
reli
giousknowledge, andthemanagterorheadofMat hiscal
ledMahant .

Ki
ndsofMat
hs:

Mat
hsar
eoft
hreeki
nds:

a) Maur
oosi
Mat
h:

Inthi
sMat h,t
heof
fi
ceoft
heMahantdev
olv
esupont
hedi
sci
plesoft
he
exi
sti
ngMahant.

b) Panchay
ati
Mat
h:

I
nsuchaMat
h,t
heMahanti
sel
ect
edbyt
hePanchay
atofMahant
s.

c) Hakumi
Mat
h:

I
nsuchaMat
h,t
hef
ounderhasr
eser
vedt
hepowerofnomi
nat
ingaMahant
.

Mahant
:

Theproper
tyofaMat hisheldbyt heMahantasspi r
it
ualheadoft he
i
nstit
ution.Ordi
nari
lyaMahantshoul
dbeSany asiandmustobser v
ecelibacy
.
Buttherearecert
ainMat
hswheremar r
iageisal
soallowed.Af emalecanalso
beaMahantbutshecan per form onlysecul
ardut i
es,and notspi
ri
tualor
rel
i
giousduti
es.

55
 Accor
dingt ot
heSupremeCour tinKri
shnaSi nghV/sMathur
aAhir,Math
i
sa ki nd ofr el
i
giousinst
itut
ion whose chiefisMahant . He ismeantf or
promoting a part
icul
arfai
th,and therefor
e,enjoyst he posi
ti
on ofhead of
part
icul
arsectandhenceactsasmanageroft hepropert
ybelongi
ngtoMath.

Theenti
repropert
yofMat
hisofhisconcer
n.Lookingaf
tert
hei
nter
est
s
oft
hei
nst
it
uti
on,heisboundt
oseet
hattheMathisret
ained.

Theof
fi
ceofMahantcomest
oanend:
-

a) byt
hedeat
hofMahant
,

b) byr
enounci
ngtheoff
ice,
c) byt
hecreat
ionofanydisabi
l
iti
es,

d) bymi
smanagi
ngt
hewhol
eaf
fai
rsoft
heMat
h,

e) byl
i
vingani
mmor
all
i
fe.

Shebai
t

Themanageroft het empleorDev asthanisknownbyt henameofShebai t

i
nNor thernIndiaandDhar makartaint heSout h.TheShebai tisonewhoser ves
andsust ai
nst hedeitywhosei magei sinstall
edi nt heshrine.Shebai t
shipinits
true concept ion i
nv ol
ves two ideas;t he mai ntenance oft he deit
y and its
management ;itisnotabar eof f
ice,butanof fi
cet ogetherwi t
hcer tainri
ghts
attachedt oit
.
Wherear eshebai tdecl
inestobr i
ngasui torbyhi sconductpl aceshimself
i
nsuchaposi tionthathecouldnotbeexpect edt obr i
ngasui t,
inordert opr
otect
thei nt
erestofdei t
y,inthecaseofpr ivateendowment ,themember soft hefami l
y
oft hefounderar etheper sonswhocansuet oenf orcet heright
soft hedeity
.

InShr iThakurjiV/sDanki ya,aper sonclaimingtobet hedefactoshebai t

fi
ledasui tprayi
ngt hataschemeofpr opermanagementoft hedebut terproperty
be dr awn up. I twashel d byAl l
ahabad High Cour tthatsuch a sui twas
mai ntainable.Itiscompet entf orthemanager ,Shebai
t,Dhar makar t
at oi ncur
debt sandbor row moneyf ort hepr operexpensesofkeepi ngupt hereligious
wor ship,repairi
ngt het emples,orot herpossessionsoft hei dol
;instit
utionor
defendi ngliti
gati
ons,host i
leat t
ackandt opreventtheendowedpr operti
esf rom
beingbr oughtt osalei nexecutionofdecr eesbi
ndingupont hei nst
it
ution.

56
 UNI
T–I
V

I
nheri
tance and successi on – Hi st
ori
cal per
spect
ive of
traditi
onalHindul aw rel
ati
ngt oinheri
tance– A detai
l
edst udyof
Hi ndusuccessionact,1956.Stri
dhana–Woman’ spr
operty–Recent
Stat eandCent ralAmendment stoHi ndusuccessi
onAct ;Gi
ftsand
testamentarysuccession–wi l
l
s.

Inher
it
anceandsuccessi
on
Histor
icalper
specti
veoftradi
ti
onal
Hindul
awr el
ati
ngt
o
inheri
tance–Adet ail
edstudyofHi
nduSuccessi
onAct,
1956

Ther
ear
etwosy
stemsofi
nher
it
anceaccor
dingt
oHi
nduLaw:
-

(
1) TheMi
takshar
asy
stem;

(
2) TheDay
abhagasy
stem.

TheDayabhagasy
stem pr
evai
l
sinBengal
,whi
l
etheMi
takshar
asy
stem
pr
evai
l
si not
herpart
sofI
ndia.

BoththesystemsarebaseduponthetextofManut hat“t
othenearest
Sapi
ndatheinher
it
ancenextbel
ongs;af
tert
hem,theSakul
yas,thepr
ecept
orof
theVedasorapupil
”.

I
ll
ust
rat
ions:

(
1) AandB,t woHi ndubrothers,governedbyt heMi taksharaSchoolof
HinduLaw, ar
emember sofajointandundi vi
dedfamily.Adiesleavi
ng
hi
sbr otherBandadaught er.A’sshar einthejoi
nt-
fami l
ypropert
ywill
passt ohisbrot
her,thesurviv
ingcopar cenerandnott ohisdaughter.
ButifAandBwer eseparate,A’spropertywould,onhisdeath,passto
hi
sdaught erasheir
.

(
2) A and B,t wo Hindu br
other
s,governed byDay abhaga Schoolare
member sofaj ointandundi
vi
dedfami l
y.Adi esleavi
nghisbrotherB
andawi dow.A’ ssharei
nthejoi
nt-
familyproper
tywil
lgotohiswi dow
ashisheirexactl
yasifAandBwer eseparate.

I
NHERI
TANCEUNDERDAYABHAGALAW:

57
 Thef
oll
owi
ngt
engener
alpr
inci
plesappl
i
ed:

1.Inheri
tancenev erinabeyance.
2.Inheri
tancecannotbeov erriddenbyagr eement
.
3.Spessuccessi onisisnotr ecognized.
4.Mal estakeabsolutely,
femal estakeli
mitedest
ate.
5.Freshst ockofdescent .
6.Doct r
ineofrepresentati
on.
7.Jointtenantandt enants-
in-common.
8.Divi
sionperst r
ipesandpercapi t
a.
9.Whol ebloodtobepr ef
erredt ohalf
-bl
ood.
10.
Propinquityandreligi
ousef ficacy.

1.I
nher
it
ancenev
eri
nabey
ance:

Ther i
ghtofi nheri
tanceundert heHi nduLaw wasar i
ghtwhi chvested
i
mmedi at
elyont hedeathoft heowneroft hepropert
yint hepersonwhowast he
nearestheiratthatti
me.I tcouldnoti nanycircumstancer emaininabeyancein
expectati
onoft hebirt
hofapr ef er
ableheirnotconceiv edatt heti
meoft he
owner’sdeat h.Wher etheest ateofaHi nduhadv estedi naper sonwhowas
nearestheirattheti
meofhi sdeat h,i
tcouldnotbedivested.

2.I
nher
it
ancecannotbeov
err
iddenbyagr
eement
:

Thelaw ofinheri
tance,being par
tofthelaw oftheland,cannotbe
ov
err
iddenbyagreementorprovi
sionofadocumental
ter
ingthesame.

3.Spessuccessi
oni
sisnotr
ecogni
zed:

Therightofaper sontosucceedisabar echangeofsuccessi on,i.

e.,mere
spessuccessions.I ti
samer econti
ngentinterestandnotav estedinterestand
assuchnov ali
dtransfercanbemadeofi teitherbywi l
lorbyanacti nterv i
vos.
Anyagr eemententeredi nt
obyaper sonasr egardshisrightofinher
it
ancecoul d
notbindt hepersonwhoact ual
lyi
nherit
edwhensuccessi onopened.I tcannot
evenbemadet hesubj ectofacontract
;thereasonbei ngthatitcanbedef eat
ed
atanymomentbyt heowner ’
sdi
spositi
on.

4.Mal
est
akeabsol
utel
y,f
emal
est
akel
i
mit
edest
ate:

Malessucceeding ashei r
s,whetherto amaleortoaf emale,t
ook
absolut
ely. Femalessucceedi
ngasheirst omaletookal
imi
tedestat
einthe
propert
yinheri
tedbythem,excepti
ncert
aincasesi
nBombaySt
ate.

5.Doct
ri
neofr
epr
esent
ati
on:

Underthi
spr
inci
ple,t
hechi
l
drenofremoterdescendant
sofadeceased
per
sonsteppedint
heshoesofthei
rascendant
sathisdeathsoastotakehis

58
shar
eint
hepr
oper
ty.

Theonlycasewher edoct ri
neappliesinHinduLawi sthatoftheson,t
he
grandsonandt hegreat
-grandsonsucceedi ngsi
multaneousl
yasasinglehei
r,t
he
reasonbeingthatthegrandsonr epresent
st her
ightsofhisfat
hertoashareand
thegreat-
grandsonrepresentsther i
ghtsofbothhisf at
herandgrandfat
herwho
aredead.

6.Joi
ntt
enantandt
enant
s-i
n-common:

Thegeneralr
uleofHinduLawi sthati
ncaseofobst r
uctedinheri
tancetwo
ormor epersonsinheri
ti
ngtogethert
akeast enants-i
n-commonandnotasj oint
tenant
s and t hatthe doctri
ne ofsur vi
vorshi
pi sl i
mited to unobstruct
ed
successionandtosuccessi
ont othepropert
yofre-uni
tedcopar cener
s.

7.Di
vi
sionperst
ri
pesandpercapi
ta:

Therearetworul
esfordiv
idi
ngt
hepr
oper
ty:
(a)Di
visi
onperstr
ipes.

(
b)Di
vi
si
onpercapi
ta.

Inaperst ri
psdistr
ibuti
on,t hesev er
alheirswho belongt o dif
fer
ent
branches,
getthei
rshareonlyfr
om thatpr oper
tywhichisavail
abletothebranch
towhichtheybelong.Insuchdistr
ibution,thequantum ofpropert
yav ai
l
ableto
eachheirdependsonthepropert
yav ail
abletohisbranchrat
herthanthenumber
ofallt
heheirs.

Di
vi
sionpercapi
ta:

Di
vi
sionofproper
tyi
ssaidtobepercapi t
a,whent hepropert
yisdivi
ded
amongal
ltheclai
mantsent
it
ledtoit
,inequalshare,i
.e.
,theest
ateisdiv
idedi
nto
asmanysharesasthenumberofhei
rs,eachheirtaki
ngoneshare.

8.Whol
ebl
oodt
obepr
efer
redt
ohal
f-bl
ood:

Asapindaofthewholebl
oodispref
erredtoasapi
ndaoft
hehalfbl
ood.
Thispref
erence,howev
er,i
sconfi
nedtosapindaoft
hesamedegr
eedescended
fr
om thecommonancest or
.

9.Pr
opi
nqui
tyandr
eli
giousef
fi
cacy
:

TheruleaslaiddownbyManusay sMay ne,comest

othis:‘
Intheabsence
ofspecif
ictext
s,propi
nqui
tyalonei sthecri
teri
onofsuccession. Therul
eof
pr
opinqui
tymenast henear
erheirexcl
udesthemor eremot
e”.

59
I
NHERI
TANCEUNDERDAYABHAGALAW:

Theorderofsuccessi
onaccor
dingt
otheDay
abhagaSchoolwasmar
ked
byt
wooutst
andingf
eatures:

1.Reli
gious ef
fi
cacy
,i.
e.,capaci
tyt
o conf
erspi
ri
tualbenef
iton t
he
deceasedowner.

2.Onemodeofsuccessi
on.

1.Reli
giousef
fi
cacy,i
.e.
,capaci
tyt
oconf
erspi
ri
tualbenef
itont
he
deceasedowner
:

UndertheDayabhaga, t
herighttoinheri
tar
osefrom spi
ri
tualeff
icacy,t
hat
i
s,thecapaci t
ytoconf erspiri
tualbenefitonthesoul
sofpat ernalandmat er
nal
ancestors.Theprincipleofspi r
it
ualbenef i
twasuti
li
zedtof r
eet hefatherfr
om
thelegalfet
ter
softhej oint
-famil
ysy st
em andt of
rameanor derofsuccessionin
accordancewithmor eequitableprinci
ple.

2.Onemodeofsuccessi
on:

TheDayabhagaLawpr ovi
desonlyonemodeofsuccessi on.Ther ei
sno
r
ightbybi rt
horsur v
ivor
shi
p. Ther ul
eofi nheri
tanceis,ther
ef or
e,thesame
whetherthefami
lydiv
idedorundiv
ided,
whetherthepropert
yisjointorsepar
ate.

HI
NDUSUCCESSI
ONACT,
1956

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

TheHinduSuccessionAct,1956marksanewerainthehistor
yofsoci
al
l
egi
slat
ioni
nIndia.Av i
gorousatt
empthasbeenmadet obr
ingsomer ef
ormsof
f
arr
eachingconsequencesinthesyst
em ofi
nher
it
anceandsuccessi
on.

Thelawint heseareasneededcompleteover
hauli
ngassomeoft helegal
pr
ovi
sionsundert heoldt ext
uall
awhadbecomeobsol ete,f
orexample,t
henon-
i
ncl
usionoff emaleneededsomer ev
olut
ioni
zi
ngchangessoast orecogni
zethe
l
ongfeltri
ghtofinherit
anceofHindufemalesatparwit
hmales.

TheHinduSuccessionAct,1956,hasbeenpassedtomeett heneedsofa
progressi
vesociet
y.I tr emovesinequali
ti
esbetweenmenandwomenwi t
h
respecttori
ghtsinpropertyanditevolv
esal i
stofheir
senti
tl
edtosucceedon
i
ntestacybasedonnat uralloveandaffect
ionrat
herthanonr el
i
gi ouseff
icacy.
The Acthas been passed t o codif
yand amend t he Hi
ndu Law r egardi
ng
succession.

Mai
nfeat
uresoft
heAct
:

60
 1.TheActappl iestoal lHi ndus,Buddhi sts,JainsandSi khsbutnott o
Musl i
ms,Par sis,Chr istiansandJews. I thasf urtherbeenext ended
event ot hatper son,oneofwhosepar entsisaHi ndu,Buddhi st,Jain
andSi khandwhoi sbr oughtupasaHi ndu-Sec. 2.
2.theActhasabol i
shedi mpar ti
bleest ateandt hespeci almodeofi ts
successi on–Sec. 5
3.Theactent i
tlesev enr emot estagnat eorcognat et obet hehei r.
4.Theactmakesnodi st i
nctionbet weenmal eandf emal ehei r
s.
5.Theacthasr epealedpr ovi
sionofdi fferentact sr el
atingt osuccessi on
undermat riarchal syst em pr ev ai
li
ngint heSout h–Sec. 7
6.TheActhasdi spensedwi tht herulesofsuccessi onpr evail
ingunder
Mi takshar a and Day abhaga l aw and pr ov i
ded a uni form code f or
det ermi ni
ngr ulesofsuccessi on.
7.Thef ullbloodshal lexcl udet hehal fbloodwher et her el
at i
onshi pist he
samei not herr espect s–Sec. 18
8.Mur dererisnotent i
tledt osucceedt ot heproper tyofper sonmur dered.
9.Unchast ityisnol ongeragr oundofexcl usionf rom inher i
tanceont he
par tofwoman.
10.
the di squal ified heiri st reat ed as one who had pr edeceased t he
intestat e–Sec. 27
11.
Disease,def ectordef ormityi snownotanygr oundofexcl usionf rom
inher i
tanceundert heAct–Sec. 28
12.
TheActent i
tlesamal eHi ndut odi sposeofhi sorheri nteresti na
Mi takshar acopar cenar yproper t
ybywi l
l –Sec.30.

Successi
ont
opr
oper
tyofaMal
eHi
ndu:

TheActdealswi ththediff
erentr
ulesofsuccessi
oni nconnect
ionofthe
devolut
ionofpr
oper t
y,belongi
ngt oamaleandtoaf emale.Secti
on6oft heAct
asdiscussedinthef oregoi
ngpagesr el
atestothedevolut
ionofacopar cenar
y
i
nterestofaMitaksharacoparcener.

Sect
ions8t o13dealwi thrul
esofsuccessioninconnect
ionwi
ththe
separatepr
opertyofamaleHindu,dyi
ngi
ntest
ate.Secti
ons15and16dealwi
th
thedevolut
ionofthepr
opert
ybelongi
ngtoafemaleHindu.

Successi
ont
opr
oper
tyofMal
es:

Sec.8oft heActl aysdowngeneralrul

esofsuccessioninthecaseof
malesdyingi
ntestate. Successi
onopensatthet i
meofdeat hoft heper
son
whoseproper
tyist obesucceededandi sgovernedbyt
hel aw i
nforceatthat
t
ime.

Thewordsdy i
ng i
ntestat
ei n Sec.8 aredescri
pti
veofstat
usoft he
deceasedandhav enoreferencetot hetimeofdeathofaHi ndumale. The
secti
ondivi
desthehei
rsofamal eforthepurposesofi
nheri
ti
ngt
heproper
tyi
nto
fourcl
asses.

61
Thesear
e:

(
1)Rel
ati
onsment
ionedi
nCl
assIoft
heSchedul
e.

(
2)Rel
ati
onsment
ionedi
nCl
assI
Ioft
heSchedul
e.

(
3)Agnat
esoft
hedeceased.

(
4)Cognat
esoft
hedeceased.

Hei
rsofCl
assI
:

Accordi
ngt o Sec.9heir
sinCl assIoft heScheduleareto succeed
si
multaneousl
y;i
notherwords,t
heyform onegroupofhei
r sandsucceedasa
body.Heirsmenti
onedi ncl
assI
Iareexcludedsolongasther
eisevenasingle
hei
rinClassI.

Li
stofhei
rsspeci
fi
edi
nCl
assI
:

Fol
l
owi
ngar
ethehei
rsoft
hedeceasedspeci
fi
edi
nCl
assI
:

1.Son.
2.Daught
er.
3.Widow.
4.Mother
.
5.Sonofpre-
deceasedson.
6.Daught
erofapr e-
deceasedson.
7.Sonofapre-deceaseddaughter
.
8.Daught
erofapr edeceaseddaughter.
9.Widowofapr e-
deceasedson.
10.
Sonofapre-deceasedsonofapr e-deceasedson.
11.
Daught
erofapr e-
deceasedsonofapr e-
deceasedson.
12.
Widowofapr e-
deceasedsonofapr e-
deceasedson.
13.
Sonofapredeceaseddaughterofapr edeceaseddaughter.
14.
Daught
erofapr edeceaseddaughterofapr edeceaseddaught
er.
15.
Daught
erofapr edeceasedsonofapr edeceaseddaughter.
16.
Daught
erofapr edeceaseddaughterofapr edeceasedson.

Successi
ont
oPr
oper
tyofFemal
eHi
ndu:

UndertheHinduLaw,bef orethecommencementoftheAct,separ
ate
r
ulesexi
stedf
orthedevolut
ionofawomen’sproper
ty.Pr
iort
otheActafemale
Hi
ndupossessedtwokindsofpropert
y:

a)St
ri
dhana;

62
 b)Hi
nduWomen’
sEst
ate.

Rul
esofSuccessi
onoft
hepr
oper
tyoff
emal
es:

Sec.15oftheActprescri
best heGeneralRul
esofSuccessi
onofthe
proper
tyofa f emal
e dy
ing i
ntestat
e and Sec.16 lay
s down t
he or
derof
succession.

Whoar
ethehei
rs?

Sec.15(1)divi
desheirsofaHi ndufemal
eintof i
vecategori
es. The
generalruleist
hatheir
sinanear l
ierentr
yexcl
udehei
rsinlat
terent
ri
es.Ift
here
arenohei rsinanyoftheseentr
ies,proper
tyoft
hedeceasedHindufemalegoes
tothegov ernmentbyescheat
.

(
1)Hei
rsi
nthef
ir
stent
ry:

a)Sons.
b)Daughter
s.
c)Chil
drenofpr
e-deceasedson.
d)Chil
drenofpr
e-deceaseddaught
er.
e)Husband.

(
2)Hei
rsi
nthesecondent
ry:

Hei
rsoft
hehusbandoft
hef
emal
edy
ingi
ntest
atecomeundersecondent
ry.

Thehei
rsoft
hehusbandar
e:

(
a)Heir
softhehusbandspecifi
edi
nCl
assIoftheSchedule.
(
b)Heir
softhehusbandspecifi
edi
nCl
assIIoftheSchedule.
(
c)Agnatesofthehusband.
(
d)Cognatesofthehusband.

(
3)Hei
rsi
nthet
hir
dent
ry:

(a)Mother– i
tdoesnoti
ncl
udest
ep-
mot
herbuti
ncl
udesnat
uralaswel
las
adopt
ivemot
her.

(
b)Father– f
atherdoesnoti ncl
udest
ep– f
atherorput
ati
vef
ather
. Buti
t
i
ncl
udesnat
uraloradopt
ivef
ather.

(
4)Hei
rsi
nthef
our
thent
ry:

Hei
rsoft
hef
atheroft
hef
emal
edy
ingi
ntest
atecomeundert
hisent
ry.

Thehei
rsoft
hef
atherar
e:

63
 (
a)Hei
rsoft
hef
atherspeci
fi
edi
nCl
assIoft
heSchedul
e.

(
b)Hei
rsoft
hef
atherspeci
fi
edi
nCl
assI
Ioft
heSchedul
e.

(
c)Agnat
esoft
hef
ather
.

(
d)Cognat
esoft
hef
ather
.

(
5)Hei
rsi
nthef
if
thent
ry:

Hei
rsofhermot
hercomeundert
hisent
ry.

Herhei
rsar
e:

(
1)Sons,daughtersoft hemot herincl
udi
ngsonsanddaught
ersofapr
e-
deceasedsonanddaught erandhusband.
(
2)Heirsofhusbandoft hemother.
(
3)Fatherandmot herofthemother.
(
4)Heirsoffat
heroft hemother.
(
5)Heirsofmotheroft hemother.

Ri
ghtofchi
l
dinwomb–Sec.20:

Sec.20pr ov i
dedt hat“ Achildwhowasi nthewombatt het i
meoft he
deathofani ntestateandwhoi ssubsequentl
ybornali
veshallhav
et hesame
ri
ghttoinheri
ttot heintestatesasi fheorshehadbeenbornbef
orethedeat
hof
theint
estateandt heinher i
tanceshallbedeemedt ovestinsuchacasewi th
eff
ectfr
om thedat eofthei ntest
ate”.

Achildinmot her
’swombispresumedtobebor
nbef or
et hedeat
hofthe
i
ntestate,al
thoughsubsequent
lybor
n.Thechildi
nembry
oi streat
edasinesse
f
orv ari
ouspur poseswheniti
sforhi
sbenef
itt
obesotr
eated.

STRI
DHANA

Pr
oper
tywhi
chmaybeownedbyaHi
nduwomani
sdi
vi
sibl
eint
otwo
ki
nds,
namely
:

1)Pr
oper
tyofwhi
chshei
stheabsol
uteowner
;

2)Pr
oper
tyofwhi
chshei
sthel
i
mit
edowner
.

Thefor meri sspokenofasherSt r

idhanaandthelatt
erher‘
woman’s
est
ate’.TheHi ndu
Succession Act ,1956,hasnow confer
red absol
uteowner
shiptotheHindu
woman i nr espect of the pr
oper
ty possessed by her at t
he t
ime of

64
commencementoftheActwhet
hersuchpr
oper
tywasacqui
redbef
oreoraf
ter
theenf
orcementoft
heAct
.

TheActhas,i nfact
,now r
emoved t
hedi
ff
erentorderofsuccessi
on
regar
dingSt r
idhanaandwoman’
sestat
eandhasprescr
ibedauni
for
mr ul
eof
succession.

Meani
ngofSt
ri
dhana:

ThewordStri
dhanaisder
ivedf
rom St
ri(
woman)andDhana(
proper
ty)
.In
t
hiswayStr
idhana,
etymologi
cal
l
ymeanswoman’ spr
oper
ty.

St
ri
dhanameanswoman’spropert
y,thati
stosay,propert
iesoverwhicha
womanhasgotabsol ut
epowerofdi sposal. Suchpropert
iesare,ther
efore,
fundamental
ly dif
fer
entfr
om t
heotherkindsofproper
tyheldbywomenwhi ch
areknownasherwoman’ sest
ate.Therearetwopr i
nci
palpoint
sofdi f
fer
ences
betweenStri
dhanaandwoman’
sestate:

1.I
nt hecaseofawoman’ sestatet hefemale
ownerhasal i
mit
edpowerofdi sposal,
herri
ght
of ali
enati
on bei
ng circumscri
bed by legal
necessit
yorbenefi
tofest at
e.I nthecaseof
Stri
dhana,however,it being her absolute
propert
yshecandisposeitofatherwill
.

2.I
nt hecaseofawoman’ sest at
e,ont hedeath
ofthefemaleowner,
thepropert
ypassesnott o
herheirs,buttotheheirsoft hel astmale-
holder
;buti nthe case ofa St r
idhana the
proper
typassestoherownhei rsasl ai
ddown
undertheHinduLaw.

Def
ini
ti
on:

Wenowgi
vebel
owt
hemeani
ngofSt
ri
dhanaaccor
dingt
o–

(
1) TheSmr
it
iwr
it
ers;

(
2) Thecomment
ari
es;

(
3) Judi
ci
aldi
cisi
ons.

(
1) TheSmr
it
iwr
it
ers:

At
extofManustat
esthatwif
e,asonandasl
avecanhavenoproper
ty
andt
hatt
heweal
thwhi
chtheyearni
sacqui
redf
ort
hem t
owhom t
heybel
ong.

65
 Accordi
ngt
oManusay sthat“
whatwasgivenbef
orethenupti
alf
ir
e, what
wasgi venatabri
dalprocessi
on,whatwasgi
veni nt
okenofloveandwhatwas
recei
vedf r
om abrother,amot herorafat
her,areconsi
deredast hesix-f
old
proper
tyofawoman” .

Nar
adaaddsonemor
eki
ndofSt
ri
dhanaandt
hati
s‘gi
ft
sfr
om t
he
husband’
.

(
2) Thecomment
ari
es:

Ther
ear
etwoi
mpor
tantcomment
ari
es:

(
a) TheMi
takshar
abyVi
j
naneshwar
a;

(
b) TheDay
abhagabyJi
mut
avahana.

(
A)Mi
takshar
a–Accor
dingt
oVi
j
naneshwar
a:

Sri
dhanawasgi
venbyt
hef
ather
,byt
hemot
her
,byt
hehusbandandby
t
hebr
other
.

(
B)Day
abhaga:

Accordi
ngt heJi
mut avahanaist
heleadi
ngauthori
tyoft
heBengalSchool
.
I
tdefi
nesaSt r
idhanthus:“Thatalonei
sStri
dhanawhichawomanhaspowert o
gi
ve,
selloruseindependentl
yofherhusband’
scontr
ol”.

(
3) Judi
cial
deci
sions:

Accor
dingtoPr i
vyCouncilthepropert
yinheri
tedbyawomanwhet her
fr
om amaleorfrom f
emale,doesnotconsti
tut
eherStr
idhanainanycase.Butin
Bombay,i
nheri
tedproper
tyisStr
idhanaexceptwhereiti
sinheri
tedf
rom amal e
i
ntowhosefamilyshehasenter
edbymar ri
age.

Propert
ygiveni stoawomanbyst r
angerswhetherbyagi f
torbya
test
amentarydi
sposit
iondur
ingcovert
uresisStr
idhanaaccor
dingt
oMadrasand
BombaySchools,buti
tisnotStr
idhanaaccordi
ngtoBengalandMit
hil
aSchool
s.

Speci
alf
eat
uresofSt
ri
dhana:

Thepr
inci
pal
feat
uresofSt
ri
dhana:

1.Test
soff
indi
ngt
heSt
ri
dhanaPr
oper
ty:

A Hi
ndu f
emal
emayacqui
repr
oper
tyf
rom v
ari
oussour
ces. Butal
l

66
pr
opert
yacqui
redbyherisnotSt
ri
dhana.Whet
herapar
ti
cul
arki
ndofpr
oper
tyi
s
St
ri
dhanaornot,
dependson:

(
a)Thesour
cef
rom whi
cht
hepr
oper
tywasacqui
red;

(b)Woman’
sstatusatt
heti
meofacqui
sit
ion,
i.
e.,
whet
hersheacqui
redi
t
duri
ng mai denhood,
cov
ertur
es;

(
c)TheSchool
towhi
chshebel
ongs.

2.Successi
on:

I
nr espectofStri
dhana proper
ty,t
hewoman f
ormsa f
resh st
ockof
descentandsuchpr oper
tydevolv
edonherdeat
htoherownhei
rs.Incaseof
widow’sestatei
twasnotso.

3.Powerofal
i
enat
ion:

Str
idhanai ssuch apropert
yofaf emaleHi ndu ofwhich sheist he
absol
uteownerandwhi chshemaydi sposeofatherpleasur
e,i
fnotinallcases
duri
ngcov er
ture,i
nallcasesduri
ngwi dowhood. Thiswasnott hecasewi th
woman’sestate.

Sour
cesofwoman’
spr
oper
ti
es:

Fol
l
owi
ngar
ethesour
cesbywhi
chaHi
nduf
emal
emayacqui
repr
oper
ty:
-

a)Gi
ft
sandbequest
sfr
om r
elat
ionsi
sSt
ri
dhana;

b)Gi
ft
sandbequest
sfr
om st
ranger
sdur
ingmai
denhoodi
sSt
ri
dhana;

c)Pr
oper
tyobt
ainedonpar
ti
ti
oni
sSt
ri
dhana;

d)Pr
oper
tygi
veni
nli
euofmai
ntenancei
sSt
ri
dhana;

e)Propert
yacquir
edbyi
nheri
tancei
sStr
idhanaaccor
dingt
oDay
abhaga,
Benaras,Mi
thi
l
aandMadr
asSchool
s.

f
) Pr
oper
tyacqui
redbymechani
cal
art
sisSt
ri
dhana.

g)Proper
tyobt
ainedbycompr
omi
sei
sori
snotSt
ri
dhanadependsupont
he
ter
msofcompr omise;

h)Pr
oper
tyacqui
redbyadv
ersepossessi
oni
sSt
ri
dhana.

i
) Pr
opert
ypurchasedwi
thSt
ri
dhanaorwi
thsav
ingsofi
ncomeofSt
ri
dhana
i
sStr
idhana.

67
 j
) Whetherproper
tyacqui
red f
rom sourcesotherthan thosement i
oned
abov
ei sori
snotSt
ri
dhanawillbedet
erminedbytheschoolconcer
ned.

WOMEN’
SESTATEORPROPERTY

TheHi nduwoman’ sli

mitedestatehasnowbeenabol i
shedbySec.14of
theHinduSuccessi onAct ,1956,andnow ev eryproper
tyinpossessi
onofa
femalewhet heracqui
redbef or
eoraf t
erthecommencementoft hatAct
,except
acqui
red undera gi ft
,wi l
l,award,documentordecr ee ofcourtsti
pul
ating
other
wi se,i
sherabsolutepropert
y.Sec.14oft heHi
nduSuccessionAct
,ashas
beendiscussedabov eisret
rospecti
veinnatur
e.

Sour
cesofpr
oper
ty:

Ther
ear
etwosour
cesbywhi
chaHi
nduf
emal
emaypossesst
hepr
oper
ty:

(
1)Pr
oper
tyi
nher
it
edbyf
emal
esf
rom amal
e.

(
2)Pr
oper
tyi
nher
it
edbyf
emal
esf
rom af
emal
e.

Nat
ureofpr
oper
tysoi
nher
it
ed:

Accordi
ngtoBengal,Banaras,Mi
thi
l
aandMadrasSchoolsever
yfemale
whosucceededasanhei rwhethertoamaleorf
emal
e,tookalimit
edest
atein
theproper
tyinher
it
edbyherandonherdeat hthepr
opertypassednottoher
hei
rs,
buttothenextful
lowner
.

Meani
ngandnat
ureofWoman’
sEst
ate:

Theter
m“ Woman’sEstate”init
sl ar
gerconnotat
ionmeansal lpropert
y
whi
chhascomet oawomanbyanymeansandf r
om anysourcewhatsoeverand
i
ncl
udes both pr
oper
tyin which she has absolut
einter
est(Str
idhana)and
pr
oper
tyinwhichshehasonl
yal i
mitedi
nterest
.

I
nci
dent
sofWi
dow’
sEst
ate:

Theexpressi
on‘St
ri
dhana’si
gni
fiedanabsol
uteest
ate;theexpressi
on
‘
widow’
sestate’i
mpli
edalimi
tedestat
e.Thefol
lowi
ngweret heinci
dent
sofa
wi
dow’sest
ate:

1)Shef ul
l
yrepr
esent
edtheest
ate.Shecoul
dinst
it
utesui
tsin
respectofthepropert
yandshecoul dbesuedi nrespect
thereof
.

2)She coul
d sue t
orecov
erpossessi
on f
rom ev
en t
hir
d
per
son.

68
 3)Shewasent
it
ledt
omanaget
heest
ateasapr
udentowner
.

4)Shecoul
dsell
,mor
tgageormakegi
ftofherl
i
fei
nter
esti
n
suchpr
oper
ty.

5)Shecoul
dcl
aim par
ti
ti
onwi
thcol
l
ater
als.

6)Shewasnotsubj
ectt
othecont
rol
ofherki
nsmen.

7) Shecoul
dspendt
hewhol
eincomeandwasnotboundt
o
saveanyt
hing.

Gi
ft
sandTest
ament
arySuccessi
on

Sect
ion122oft
heTr
ansf
erofPr
oper
tyAct
,1882,
def
inesgi
ftasf
oll
ows:

“
Giftisthetransf
erofcer t
ainexisti
ngmov abl
eori mmov abl
epropert
y
madev ol
untar
il
yandwi t
houtconsiderat
ion,byonepersoncall
edt hedonor
;to
anot
hercall
edthedonee,andacceptedbyoronbehalfofthedonee”.

UnderthisAct,agif
tofimmov abl
epr opert
ycanonlybeaff ectedbya
r
egi
steredinst
rumentsi
gnedbyoronbehal fofthedonorandat
test
edbyatl east
t
wo witnesses. Formov abl
e property
,the transfermaybe affected bya
r
egi
steredinst
rumentorbyadeli
veryofpossession.

UndertheHi nduLaw,gi ftinitsgeneralsense,ist herenunciat

ionbythe
owneroft hepr operty-
ri
ghti nfav ourofasent ientbeinghav ingther esul
tof
exti
nguishi
ngt heowner shipoft hedonorandcr eat
ingt hatoft hedonee.The
essenti
als ofa v ali
d giftaret hatthere mustbe a donor (
Data),a donee
(Pr
atigr
ahit
a),aproperobj ectofgift(Dat
avya)andat ransacti
oni nv
olvi
ngcertai
n
for
mal i
ti
es.

Thequesti
onoftenari
seswhet hertherenunci
ationaloneonthepartof
thedonorwi t
houtacorr
espondi
nggift(sweekar)woul
dcompl et
etheownershi
p
oft he donee. Ji mutav
ahan maintains t
hatowner shipis notcreat
ed by
acceptanceonthatpar
tofthedoneebutbygiftonthepar toft
hedonor.

I
tisli
abletobedefeat
edbyt herefusalofthedoneetoaccepthi
sgif
torto
beperfectedbyhisacceptancethereof,sot hatintheint
ervalbet
weenthegift
anditsacceptanceandnon-accept
ance, asthecasemaybe, thedoneeisvest
ed
withani nchoateownershi
p,thatiseitherperfect
edordef eatedbythedonee
accepti
ngorr ef
usingt
hegift
.

Thef ol
l
owingpr
opertymayv ali
dlybedisposedofbygi
ftev
enaf
tert
he
commencementoft
heTransferofPr
opertyAct
,1882:

1)Separ
ateorsel
f-
acqui
redpr
oper
tyofaHi
ndu,
whet
her

69
 gov
ernedbyMi
takshar
aorDay
abhagaLaw.

2)St
ri
dhanai
.e.
,woman’
sabsol
utepr
oper
ty.

3)I
mpart
ibl
eproper
ty,unlesspr
ohi
bit
edbycust
om or
t
heter
m oft
hetenure.

4)I
nter
estofacopar
cenerundert
heDay
abhagaLaw.

5)Thewholeoftheancest
ralpr
oper
tybyt
hef
ather
undert
heDay
abhagaLaw.

6)Asmallpor
ti
onoftheproper
ty,i
nheri
tedbyaHindu
wi
dow,maybegift
edbyherdaught erorherson-
in-
l
awattheti
meofmarri
age.

7)Movabl
eproper
tyi
nher
it
edbyawi
dow gov
ernedby
May
ukhaLaw.

Gi
ftwhencompl
ete?

A gif
tunderHinduLaw i
snotcomplet
eunl
essi ti
saccompani
edby
del
iver
yofpossessi
onevent
houghiti
smadebyar
egist
eredi
nst
rument
.Agif
t
undertheHi
nduLawneednotbeinwri
ti
ng.

Therul
eofHinduLawt hatdel
iv
eryofpossessioni
sessent
ialt
ovali
dat
ea
gi
ftisabr
ogatedbythepr
ovisi
onsofSecti
on123oft heTransf
erofProper
tyAct
asregar
dsthosegi
ft
sinthoseTerri
tor
iest
owhicht hesai
dActappli
es.

Gi
ftt
ounbor
nper
sons:

Underpur eHi
nduLaw,agif
tcouldnotbemadei nfavourofaper sonwho
i
snotinexistenceonthedateofthegift
.Butthisr
ulehasbeenal t
eredbythe
HinduTr
ansfersandBequestsAct,1914,t
heHinduDisposi
tionofPr opert
yAct
,
1916andtheHi nduTr
ansf
erandBequests(Ci
tyofMadras)Act,1921.

Rest
ri
cti
onsonexer
ciseofr
ight
:

Agiftmadewi thintentt
odefeatordefr
audcr
edit
orsisvoidabl
eatthei
r
opti
on.Ther i
ghtcannotbeexerci
sedsoast odef
eatthecl
aim ofpersonswho
areent
it
ledtomaintenanceoutoft
hepropert
y.

Thedeci
si
onsofHi
nduLawhav
esanct
ionedgi
ftt
ost
ranger
sbyamanger

70
ofjointHinduf amil
yofasmallext
entofpr oper
tyforpi
ouspurposes.Butagif
t
toast r
anger,howevermuchthedonorwasbehol dentohim,cannotsustai
non
thegr oundthatitwasmadeoutofchar i
ty.Themanagerhasnoabsol ut
epower
ofdisposalov erj
ointHi
nduf
amilyproper
ty.

Rev
ocat
ionofgi
ft
:

Agiftoncecompl
etedcannotber
evokedunl
essi
twasobt
ainedbyf
raud
orunderi
nfl
uence.

Donat
iomor
ti
scausa:

ADonati
oMor ti
scausameansa‘ gi
ft’madeincontemplat
ionofdeat
h’.I
t
i
srecogni
zedbytheHinduLaw.Accordi
ngt oHinduLaw,aDonatioMorti
scausa
(
voidi
fthedonorshoul
drecoverf
rom hi
sil
lnessorsur
vivethedonee)i
svali
d.

Accor dingl
ySec.129oftheTr ansf
erofPropert
yAct ,1882,excl
udesf
rom
theprov i
sionsoft heChapterrelat
ingt ogif
tsofmov ablepr oper
tymadei n
contemplationofdeat h,t
helegalrequisi
tesar
egi v
ingeitherorall
yorbywri
ting
wit
ht heint entiontopassthepr opertyinthethi
nggi v
en,accompani edbyits
actualdel
iver yandaccept
anceinthedonor ’
sli
fet
ime.

Bef
oreupholdingDonat i
oMor t
iscausa,t
hecour
tmustbesati
sfiedt
hati
t
wast hef r
eev oluntar
yactoft hepar t
ybywhom i tpur
port
st o havebeen
execut
edandt hatitexpressedhisr
ealint
enti
on.

WI
LLS

Awilli
sthel
egaldecl
arat
ionofthei
ntent
ionofat est
atorwit
hrespectt
o
hi
spr
oper
ty,whi
chhedesi
restobecarr
iedi
ntoeffectaf
terhi
sdeath.

Kat
yayanasay
s:“whatamanhaspr omi sed,indeathori nsicknessf
or
rel
i
giouspurpose,mustbegiv
enandi fhedieswi thoutgivi
ngi t
,hi
ssonshal l
doubtl
essl
yiscompell
edtodel
iveri
t”.Andagain,“Afterdel
i
veringwhatisdueas
afri
endlygif
t(promi
sedbythef at
her)lett
her emainderbedi vi
dedamongt he
hei
rs”.

Hari
taalsosays:“Apromi selegall
ymadei nwords,butnotperfor
med
i
ndeed,i
sadebtofconsci encebot hinthisworl
dandt henext”.Everywil
lor
codi
ci
lmadebyaHi ndui
snowr equi
redtobei nwri
ti
ngandattestedbyatl
east
twowit
nesses,
butitdoesnotrequir
eregistr
ati
ontomakeitval
i
d.

Meani
ngof‘
Codi
cil
’
:

A codi
cilmeansi
nstr
umentmadei nrel
ati
ontoawillandexplai
ning,
al
ter
ingoraddi
ngtoit
sdi
sposi
ti
onsandshal
lbedeemedt
ofor
m par
tofthewill
.

71
Per
soncapabl
eofmaki
ngwi
l
l:

Ev
erypersonofsoundmindnotbei
ngami normaydi
sposeofhisproper
ty
bywil
l.UnderthepureHindulaw acoparcenercoul
dnotval
i
dlybequeathhis
undi
vi
dedint
eresti
nthejoi
ntf
amilypr
opert
y.

Butnowtherul
eismodifi
edbySec.30oft heHinduSuccessi
onAct
,1956,
underwhichamemberofaMi taksharacopar
cenarycandisposeofbywil
lhi
sor
herundiv
idedi
nter
esti
nthecoparcenarypr
opert
y.

Theonusofpr ovi
ngawi l
lisont heprofounder .Int heabsenceof
suspicious circumstances surroundi
ng the executi
on ofwi l
l,t he pr oofof
test
ament arycapacit
yandt hesignat
ureofthetestator,asrequiredbyl aw are
suff
icienttodi schar
get heonus.Wher etherear
esuspi ciousci
rcumst ances,the
onuswoul d beon t hepropoundert o expl
ainthem t o expl
aint hem t ot he
sati
sfactionoft hecourtbeforet
hewi l
lcouldbeacceptedasgenui ne.

Themer eabil
itytosi
gnone’snamedoesnotnecessar il
yimpl
ythev
ali
dit
y
ofawi l
l.Thet estat
ormusthav eadisposingmi nd.Hemustbeabletodi
spose
ofhispropertywithunderstandi
ngandr easons.Hemustbeabl etoappr
eci
ate
hispropertyandtof orm aj
udgmentwi t
hr especttothepar
ti
eswhom hechose
tobenefitbyitaft
erdeath.

Whatpr
oper
tymaybedi
sposedofbywi
l
l?

Underthepur
eHinduLaw,aHi nducoul
dnotbywi llbequeathproperty
whi
chhecouldnothaveali
enatedbygif
tint
ervi
vosnorcanhebywi llsodispose
ofhisproper
tyastodefeatthelegalri
ghtofhiswif
eoranyot herpersont o
maint
enance.

AHi
nducoul
ddi
sposeofbywi
l
l,t
hef
oll
owi
ngpr
oper
ty:

Accor
dingt
oMi
takshar
a:

AHi
nducoul
ddi
sposeofbywi
l
lthef
oll
owi
ngpr
oper
ty:

1.Separ
ateofsel
f-
acqui
redpr
oper
ty;

2.Asol
esurvi
vi
ngcopar
cenermaydi
sposeofhi
s
pr
oper
tybywil
l;

3.Sanday
ikaSt
ri
dhan;

4.Al
lSt
ri
dhandur
ingwi
dowhood;

5.Impar
ti
ble peoper
ty, unl
ess prohi
bit
ed by
cust
om ort
hetermsofthegrant
.

72
 Butnocoparcener,notevenaf at
hercoulddisposeofbywillhi
sundivi
ded
coparcenar
yi nt
erest,evenifot hercomparcenersconsenttot hedisposi
tion.
Beforepassingoft heHi nduSuccessionActof1956,acopar cenercoul dnot
executeadeedofwi lloutofhi
scoparcenaryshareinthecomparcenarypr
oper t
y.

Accor
dingt
oDay
abhaga:

ThesameasunderMi
takshar
alaw,
wit
hthef
oll
owi
ngaddi
ti
ons:

(
i) Acopar
cenercoul
ddi
sposeofhi
sshar
eint
hecopar
cenar
ybywi
l
l;

(
ii
) Af at
hercoul
d di
spose ofal
lhi
s pr
oper
tyancest
ralorsel
f-
acqui
red.

Rev
ocat
ionandal
ter
ati
oni
nwi
l
l:

Awi llisli
abletoberev
okedoral t
eredbythemakerofitanyt
imewhenhe
i
scompet entt odisposeofhispropert
ybywi l
l.Butmarr
iagedoesnotrevokea
wil
lorcodicilofaHi ndu,
nordoesthebirt
hofasonsubsequentt ot
heexecuti
on
ofthewil
lrev okeitwhenhepredeceasesthetest
ator
.

Bequestt
ounbor
nper
son:

A person capable oftaki

ng underthe wi
l
lmust ,ei
theri
nfactori
n
cont
emplat
ionoflaw, beinexi
stenceatthedeat
hofthet
estat
or.

Underthepur eHinduLaw abequestt oanunbornpersonorper son,not

exist
ingincontemplati
onofl awwasv oi
d.I
nacaseaj oi
ntbequestbyAandB
wasmadei nfavourofthedaught er
sofBsubj ectt
ot hedefeasanceonsons
beingbor ntoBbef orehisdeath.Asonwasbor ntoBbef or
ehi sdeath.Hel d
thatuponhi sdeathther
ei snov al
i
dbequesttodaughtersbutthereisi
ntestacy
andHi nduSuccessionActshallapply.Therefor
ethesonwoul dnottakeunder
thewi l
lbecausehewasunbor natthedeathofA.

Wi
l
lwhenv
oid?

Awi l
loranypartofawi l
l,themaki ngofwhichhasbeencausedbyf raud
orcoer
cionorbysuchimpor t
unacyast akesawayt hefr
eeagencyoft
hetestator
,
i
sv oi
d.Toconst i
tut
eunduei nfluencether emustbecoerci
on.Theonusr ests
onthepersonwhopr opoundsawi l
ltosatisfyt
heconsci
enceofthecour
tthatit
i
sawi l
lofafreeandcapabletestator.

Rul
esagai
nstper
pet
uit
y:

Nobequestisval
idwher
ebythevest
ingofthethi
ngbequeathedmaybe
delay
edbey ondtheli
fet
imeofoneormorepersonsatthetest
ator
’sdeat
hand
themi nor
it
yofsomeper sonwhoshal
lbeinexist
enceattheexpir
ati
onofthat

73
per
iodandt
owhom,
ifheat
tai
nsf
ull
age,
thet
hingbequeat
hedwi
l
lbel
ong.

Const
rui
ngofHi
nduWi
l
l:

Inconst
rui
ngawi l
ltheintenti
onoft hetestat
oristobelookedtoandthe
pri
medut yofthecour tist oascer tai
nfrom t hewor dsofthewillwhatthe
i
ntenti
onofthetestatorwas.I nascertai
ningtheintenti
onofthetestat
or,t
he
fol
lowi
ngmaybet akenintoaccount :
(
i)
theposit
ionoft hetestat
or;

(
ii
) hi
sfami
l
yrel
ati
onshi
p;

(
ii
i) t
hepr
obabi
l
ityt
hathewoul
dusewor
dsi
napar
ti
cul
arsense;

(
iv) hi
sraceandr
eli
giousopi
nion;

(
v) Ordi
narynoti
ons and wishes ofHi
ndus wi
thr
egar
dtot
he
devol
uti
onoftheproper
ty.

UNI
T–V

Lawrelat
ingtoHinduMinor i
tyandGuardianshi
p:KindsofGuardi
ans;
Duties&Power sofGuardians;Adetai
l
edst udyofHinduadopti
on
andMaintenanceAct,1956;Maint
enance: Tr
adit
ionalRi
ght
sand
Ri
ghtsunderHinduAdopt i
on&Mai nt
enanceAct1956.

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

Theanci entHindusy stem hadhar dl

yadev elopedl aw onmi nori
tyand
guardianshi
p.Themi norchildrenmost l
yl i
vedi
naj ointfami l
yandwer ealways
undert heprot
ectionoftheKar ta.Inthej ointHi
ndufami ly
,theKar tawasobl i
ged
toprotectthemi norsandthewomenandmai nt
ainthem, evenaf terthedeathof
thefatherorthehusband, asthecasemaybe.Out si
det hejointfami l
ytheminor
chil
drenusedt ost udyintheGur ukul
aort heGuruAshr am,wher et heGuruwas
thei
rpr ot
ector
.Thati swhyDhar amshast rasdonotgener all
yspeakofpr ot
ecti
on
oftheper sonort hepropert
yofami nor,andthet extsav ail
ablear efew and
scanty.

74
 ThemodernlawofGuar dianshiphasitsbasi
sintheincapacit
ywhi chlaw
att
ri
butestomi nor
sandper sonsdef ici
entinmentalcapacityinthemat t
erof
l
ooking aft
erthemselves,theirpropertyorent er
ing i
nto contr
acts. I nthe
absenceoft hefat
her,themot herbecamet henextnaturalguardian. Inthe
absenceofbot hfatherandmot her,thecourtappoint
sguar di
answhower e
nearesttohi
mi nbloodfir
stfrom thepaternalsi
deorintheirabsencefrom the
maternalsi
de.

HI
NDUMI
NORI
TYANDGUARDI
ANSHI
PACTI
NTHELAW OFGUARDI
ANSHI
P:

Changesmadebyt
heAct
:

TheHinduMinor
it
yandGuardi
anshipActhav
eef
fect
edcer
tai
nsi
gni
fi
cant
changesintheposi
ti
onandstat
usofguardians.

1.TheActhasi mpr
ovedt hest atusoft hemotherast henaturalguardian.
Thusev enifthefatherappointsat estamentaryguardi
an,thenuponhi s
deathitisnotthetestamentaryguar dianbutthemot herwhowi llactas
the naturalguar
dian (Sec.9(1)and i fthe motherl eaves behind a
testamentar
yguardianitistheguar dianappointedbyherwhowi l
ltake
precedenceovert
heguar di
anappoi ntedbythefather(Sec.
9(2).

2.Theol dHi nduLaw recognizedthepower sofadef actoguardi

anofa
minort ointermeddl
ewi thhisestatewhichwasheldt obeco- ext
ensive
wit
ht hatoft henaturalguardi
an.ButSec.11oft heHi nduMinori
tyand
Guardianship Actforbids a de fact
o guardi
an fr
om dealing with or
di
sposi ngoftheproperti
esofaHindumi nor
.

3.undertheol dlaw thefat

herdi dnotlosecustodyofhischildmer el
y
becauseofhi schangeofr
eli
gion,butunderSec.6ofthepr
esentAct,no
personshallbeenti
tl
edtoactasguardianifheorshehasceasedtobea
Hinduorrenouncedtheworl
dbybecomi ngasany asi
.

4.Thepoweroft henaturalguar
dianr
egardi
ngali
enat
ionofthei
mmov abl
e
proper
tyoft
hemi norcannotbeexer
cisedwit
houtt
heprev
iousper
missi
on
ofthecour
t,Sec.8(
2).

Meani
ngofGuar
dian:

Aguar di
anmeansaper sonhavingt
hecareoftheper
sonofanot
herorof
hi
spropert
y,orofboth.Sec.4oftheGuardiansandWardsActal
sodefi
nesthe
word‘Guar
dian’t
othesameef f
ect.Sec.4(
b)ofHinduMinor
it
yandGuar
dianshi
p
Actdefi
nestheword‘Guar
dian’asfol
l
ows;

“Guardi
an”meansapersonhav
ingthecar
eofthepersonofami
nor
,orof
hi
spr
opert
y,orofbot
hhisper
sonandpropert
yandi
ncludes–

75
 (
i) anat
ural
guar
dian;

(
ii
) aguar
dianappoi
ntedbyt
hewi
l
loft
hemi
nor
’sf
atherormot
her
;

(
ii
i) aguar
dianappoi
ntedordecl
aredbyacour
t;

(
iv) aper
sonempower
edtoactassuchbyorunderanyenact
mentr
elat
ing
t
oanyCour
tofwards.

Ki
ndsofGuar
dian:

Sect
ion4oft
heActment
ionsf
ourki
ndsofguar
dians.Thesear
e:

1.Anat
ural
guar
dian;

2.Aguar
dianappoi
ntedbyt
hewi
l
loft
hemi
nor
’sf
atherormot
her
;

3.Aguar
dianappoi
ntedordecl
aredbyacour
t;

4.Apersonempoweredt
oactassuchbyorunderanyenact
mentr
elat
ingt
o
anyCourtofwar
ds.

Besi
dest
his,
ther
ear
eot
hert
ypesofguar
dianssuchas:

5.def
act
oguar
dian;

6.adhocguar
dian.

NATURALGUARDI
AN:

Meani
ngofnat
ural
guar
dian:

A nat
uralguar
dianisonewho becomesso byr easonofthenatural
rel
ati
onshipwitht
hemi nor
.Inotherwor
dsanatur
alguar
diani
sapersonhavi
ng
thecareofthepersonofami nororofhispr
opert
yorofboth,byv
irt
ueofhis
natur
alrel
ati
onshi
pwiththeminor.

Sect
ion6oft
heHi
nduMi
nor
it
yandGuar
dianshi
pActr
unsasf
oll
ows:

“Thenaturalguar
diansofaHi
nduminor,
inr
espectoft
hemi
nor
’sper
sonaswel
l
asinrespectoftheminor’
spr
oper
ty,
are–

a)I
nt hecaseofaboyoranunmarri
edgi
rl–thef at
her,andaf
ter
hi
m,t hemother
:pr
ovi
dedt
hatthecust
odyofami norwhohas
notcomplet
edtheageoff
iveyear
sshallor
dinari
l
ybewi tht
he
mot her
.

76
 b)I
nthecaseofanil
legi
ti
mateboyoranil
l
egi
ti
mat
eunmar
ri
edgi
rl
–themotherandaft
erher
,thef
ather
.

c)I
nthecaseofamar
ri
edgi
rlt
hehusband.

Whoar
enat
ural
guar
dians?

Thefat
herist
henat ur
alguardianofhischi
l
drendur
ingt
hei
rmi
nor
it
yand
i
ntheabsencethemotherduri
ngtheirminor
it
y.

Thef atheri
st henaturalguar
dianoftheper
sonandoft
hesepar
ate
pr
oper
tyofhisminorchi
ldr
en,andnexttohi
m,t
hemother
.

Di
sabi
l
iti
est
obeaguar
dian:

Accor
dingt
oSec.6oft
heAct
,di
sabi
l
iti
esmayar
isef
rom t
hef
oll
owi
ng
r
easons:

a)Di
sabi
l
ityar
isi
ngf
rom apost
asy
.

b)Di
sabi
l
ityar
isi
ngf
rom ci
vi
ldeat
h.

c)Di
sabi
l
ityduet
omi
nor
it
y.

d)Hi
sguar
dianshi
pwi
l
lnotbef
ort
hewel
far
eoft
hemi
nor
.

Power
sofanat
ural
guar
dian:

Sec.8oftheActdealswithpowersofanat
uralguar
dianwi
thr
espectt
o
mi
nor
’spersonorpr
oper
ty.sec.8runsasfol
l
ows:

a)Thenatur
alguardianofaHi nduminorhaspower ,subjecttot
heprovi
sion
ofhi
ssection,t
odoal lact
swhichar enecessar
yorr easonabl
eandproper
fort
hebenef i
tofthemi nororforthereali
zati
on,protect
ionorbenef
itof
theminor
’sestat
e;

b)Thenatur
alguar
dianshal
lnot
,wi
thoutt
hepr
evi
ousper
missi
onoft
he
cour
t–

(
i) mort
gage orchar
ge ortr
ansf
erby sal
e,gi
ft
,exchange or
ot
herwi
seanypar
toft
heimmovabl
epr
opert
yofthemi
nor;

(
ii
) l
easeanypartofsuchproper
tyforater
m exceedi
ngfiv
eyear
s
orforat
erm ext
endingmorethanoneyearbeyondthedat
eon
whi
chtheminorwil
latt
ainmajor
it
y.

c)Nocour
tshallgr
antper
missi
ont
othenat
uralguar
dian,t
odoanyoft
he
act
smenti
oned.

77
I
ll
ust
rat
ion:

Ai sthenaturalguar
dianofper sonandpr opertyofhisminorsonBaged
17years.Aasguar dianofBl easesoutB’shouset oCf orthr
eey ear
swi t
hout
thepr
eviouspermissionoftheCour t.Theleaseisnotv ali
dastheleaseextends
toaterm mor ethanoney earbey ondthedateonwhi chtheminorwi l
lattai
n
major
it
yandnoper missi
onhasbeenobt ai
nedfrom thecour t
.

TESTAMENTARYGUARDI
AN:

Meani
ngoft
est
ament
aryguar
dian:

Thetestament
aryguardi
ansofami norarethoseguar
dianswho are
appointedbyawi l
lofthenat
uralguardi
an,enti
tl
edtoactasaguardi
anforthe
mi nor
.Needlesstosaythatawillbecomeseffect
iveonl
yaf
tert
hedeathofthe
testat
or.

Sect
ion9oft
heActr
unsasf
oll
ows:

1)A Hinduf atherenti

tl
edtoactasthenat uralguar
dianofhis
minorlegit
imatechil
drenmay,
bywil
l,appoi
ntaguardianf
orany
ofthem inrespectofthemi
nor’
sper
son.

2)AHi nduwi dow,ent itl

edt oactast henat ur
alguar di
anofher
minorlegiti
mat echildrenandaHi ndumot herentit
ledtoactas
thenaturalguardianofhermi norlegi
ti
mat echil
drenbyr eason
ofthefactt hatt
hef atherhasbecomedi senti
tl
edtoactassuch,
may ,bywillappointaguar di
anforanyoft hem i
nr espectofthe
minor’s person ori nr espectoft he minor’
s propertyori n
respectofbot h.

3)Therightoftheguardi
ansoappoint
edbywi
l
lshal
l
,wher
ethe
minorisagir
l,ceaseonhermar
ri
age.

Whomayappoi
nt?

Theactr
ecogni
zest
heri
ghtoft
hef ol
l
owingper
sont
oappoi
ntguar
dianof
t
heper
sonandsepar
atepr
oper
tyofaHinduminor
:

a)Thef
ather
,nat
ural
andadopt
ive;

b)Themot
her
,nat
ural
andadopt
ive;

c)Thewi
dowedmot
her
,nat
ural
andadopt
ive.

I
ll
ust
rat
ions:

78
 AandBar ehusbandandwife.AsonCi sbornintheyear1945.Chasgot
somesepar ateproper
tyofhisown. Ai st henatur
alguardianofper sonand
propert
yofC.Adi esintheyear1958leavinghiswidow andhismi norsonC.
BeforehisdeathAexecutedawil
landtherebyheappointedhisbrot
herDast he
guardi
an ofC. Af t
erhis deat
h a di
spute arose between B and D about
guardi
anshipofC.

HereB,ast
henatur
alguar
dianofC,
aftert
hedeathofAhasr i
ghttoactas
guar
dian.Dhasnori
ghttosuper
sedether
ightofBtoactthenat
uralguardi
anof
C.

Buti
nt heaboveil
lust
rat
ionifB di
edi
n1958withoutappoi
nti
ngany
per
sontoactasguar
dianoftheminort
henwhowi
l
lactasguardi
anaft
erdeat
h
ofB?

Dwi l
lbetheguardi
an. Becausetheappoint
mentofDmadebyAwi l
l
rev
ive as t
he motherofthe mi
nor,died wi
thoutappoi
nti
ng anyper
son as
guardi
anoftheminor.

SupposeBdi
edi
n1960execut
ingawi
llandt
her
ebyappoi
ntedEt
oactas
guar
dian.Nowwhowil
lbet
heguardi
anDorE?

Her
eaHi nduwidow hasri
ghtt oappointbywi l
lanypersontoactas
guardi
anofhermother.Fat
herofthemi norhasnorightt
otakeawaythatri
ght
ofhiswidowbyappoint
ingi
nhiswife’
sli
feti
meanyper sontoactasguar
dianof
theminor.Ifhehasmadeanysuchappoi ntment
,thatappoint
mentisofno
eff
ect.Eisent
it
ledt
oactasguardi
anofC.

Power
soft
est
ament
aryguar
dian:

Thet est
amentar
yguardi
anhast her
ighttoactast heminor’
sguardi
an
aft
erthedeathofthenatur
alguardianandt
oexer ci
seal
ltheri
ghtsandpowers
ofanat ur
alguardi
ant osuchext entandsubjecttosuchrestr
ict
ionsasare
speci
fi
edintheActandinthewil
l.

Sot
hepowersofthetestamentaryguardianandthenat
uralguardi
anare
thesameexceptt
hatthepowerofat estamentaryguar
diant
odealwithproper
ty
belongi
ngt
otheminorissubj
ecttotherestr
ict
ionsimposedbythewil
l.

Remov
aloft
het
est
ament
aryguar
dian:

Undersec.39oft heGuardi
ansandWardsAct,atest
amentar
yguardi
an
can be r
emov ed by the cour
t. Some ofthe gr
ounds forremovalofa
test
amentar
yguardianasment i
onedi
nSec.39oft
heGuar di
ansandWardsAct
areasf
oll
ows:

(
a)Abuseofhi
str
ust
.

79
 (
b)Cont
inuousf
ail
uret
oper
for
mthedut
ies.

(
c)I
ncapaci
tyt
oper
for
mthedut
y.

(
d)I
ll
-t
reat
mentornegl
ectt
otakepr
opercar
eofhi
swar
d.

(
e)Cont
inuousdi
sregar
dtoanyoft
hepr
ovi
sionsoft
heAct
.

(
f)Conv
ict
ioni
ncaseofanof
fencef
ordef
ectofchar
act
er.

(
g)Hav
inganadv
ersei
nter
est
.

(
h)Ceasingtoresi
dewi
thi
nthel
ocall
i
mit
soft
hej
uri
sdi
cti
on
ofthecourt
.

(
i)I
nsol
vencyorbankr
upt
cy.

GUARDI
ANDECLAREDORAPPOI
NTEDBYTHECOURT

Wheret
hecour
tissatisf
iedthatitisforthewel
far
eofami northatan
ordershoul
dbemadeappoint
ingaguardianofhisper
sonorproper
tyorboth,t
he
courtmaymakeanorderundertheGuardiansandWardsAct,
1890,appoi
ntinga
guardi
an.

Sect
ion13oftheHinduMinori
tyandGuar
dianshi
pAct
,1956andSec.17
oft
heGuar
diansandWar
dsAct,1890.

Sect
ion13oft
heHi
nduMi
nor
it
yandGuar
dianshi
pActr
unsasf
oll
ows:

(
1)Intheappoint
mentordeclar
ati
onofanyper
sonasguar
dianofaHindu
minorbya court,the welf
are oft
he mi
norshal
lbe t
he par
amount
consi
derat
ion.

(
2)Nopersonshal
lbeenti
tl
edtot heguar
dianshipbyv
irt
ueofthepr
ovi
sions
oft
hisActorofanyl
awr el
ati
ngtoguardianshi
pwil
lnotbef
orthewel
fare
oft
hemi nor
.

Whocanappl
yforappoi
ntmentasguar
dian?

Thequest
ionofappoi
ntmentbyt
hecour
tofaguar
diancanbeconsi
der
ed
ont
heappl
i
cati
onof–

(
a)t
heper sondesi
rousofbei
ngorcl
aimi
ngt
obet
heguar
dianoft
he
minor
;

(
b)anyr
elat
iveorf
ri
endoft
hemi
nor
;

(
c)t
hecol
l
ect
oroft
hedi
str
ictorot
herl
ocal
areai
nwhi
ch–

80
 (
i)Themi
noror
dinar
il
yresi
des;
(
ii
)Themi
norholdsproper
ty;

(
d)i
ftheminorbelongstoacl
ass,t
heCol
l
ect
orwhohasaut
hor
it
ywi
th
r
espectt
othatclass.

GUARDI
ANUNDERANYOTHERENACTMENTS

UnderOr der32ofCi v
ilProcedur
eCodeaguar di
anadl i
tem maybe
appoi
ntedorremov edorwherethemanagementofanest at
eisvested,f
orthe
ti
mebeinginacour tofwar
ds,aguardi
anoftheminorwhoseest
ateissov est
ed
maybeappointedunderthepr
ovi
sionsoftheCour
tofWardsAct.

DEFACTOGUARDI
AN

A de facto guardi
an ofa mi nor,i
s neithera legalguardi
an,nora
testament
aryguar di
an,noraguardianappoi
ntedbyt hecourt,
butheisaperson,
whohi mself
,takesoverthemanagementoft heaf f
airsoftheminorasifhewas
anat ur
alguardian.Hei snotani nter
meddler,nordoesani sol
atedactofany
personinregardtochil
d’sproper
tymakehim adef actoguardi
an.

Apersonhav i
ngthecareofpr oper
ti
esofami norbutwhoi sneit
hera
nat
uralguar
dian,neit
hertest
amentar
yguardiannoraguardi
anappoint
edbythe
Courti
sonlyadef actoguar
dianandt her
estr
ict
ionunderSec.11wil
lappl
yto
hi
sacts.

Sec.11r
unsasf
oll
ows:

“Af
terthecommencementofthi
sAct,nopersonshal
lbe
enti
tl
edtodisposeofordealwiththepr
opert
yofHinduminormerel
yonthe
groundofhi
sorherbei
ngthedefact
oguardi
an”
.

ADHOCGUARDI
AN

‘Adhoc’means‘ forthi
spurpose’
.Bef or
eaper soncanbedescr i
bedas
guardiandef actotheremustbesomecour seofconductint hatcapacit
y,i
t
i
mpl i
essomecont i
nuityofconduct,somemanagementoft hepr opert
ybeyond
theisolatedactofal
ienati
onwhichisbeingchal
lenged.Suchaper sonwouldbe
aguar dianadhocandnotaguar di
andef act
o.Alienat
ionbyguardianadhocis
void.

Ri
ght
sandl
i
abi
l
iti
esofguar
dians:

Aguar
diani
sent
it
ledt
othecust
odyofhi
swar
dandexcl
usi
vepossessi
on

81
ofhi
spropert
y.Asaguardianhealoneisenti
tl
edt
osueorbesuedonbehal
fof
theminorashisnextfri
endanddoal lsuchactsasmaybenecessaryfor
cont
esti
ngthecasei
ntheinter
estoftheminor
.

Theguardi
ancanal soenteri
ntoacompr omi
seorcanagr eetoreferthe
di
sput
et o arbi
tr
ati
on i
n or derto preserv
et he i
nterestofthe chi
ld. The
compr
omi sewouldbebindingonlywheni tf
ulf
il
sthetestofminor
’si
nterestand
i
sapprovedbythecour
t.

Thelegalposi
ti
onofguardi
ansisf
iduciaryinnat
ure.Theyareper
sonall
y
l
iabl
ef orbr
eachoft r
ust
. Theyarenotentitledtoanyr emuner
ati
onforthei
r
guar
dianshi
punlessi
thasbeenspeci
fi
cal
l
ypr ov i
dedi
nthewi l
l
.

Adetail
edstudyofHinduadopt i
onandMaintenanceAct,
1956;
Mai
ntenance:
Tradi
ti
onalRightsandRightsunderHinduAdopt
ion&
MaintenanceAct1956

SONSHI
P

Thedesi
reformaleoffspr
ingwasv erynaturalinal
learl
ysociet
ies.Mal e
i
ssue was pri
zed bothf orthe conti
nuance oft he famil
y as wellas f or
per
formanceoffuner
alri
tesandofferi
ngs.TheVedadecl ar
es:“Endl
essar ethe
worl
dsofthosewhohavesons; t
hereisnoplacef orthemanwhoi sdesti
tuteof
maleoff
spri
ng”
.

Ki
ndsofSons:

Theear l
i
erwri
ter
shav
ement ionedtwel
vekindsofsons. A f
ew text
wri
ter
sment i
onedtwomorekindsofsons.Allexceptt
wohavenow become
obsol
ete.Thesear
e:

1.TheAur asaorthel egit

imat esons.
2.TheDat takaortheadopt edsons.
3.Kshetraja– sonbegot tenononesownwi f
ebyanot hermanwit
ht he
consentoft hehusband.
4.Gudhaja–Sonsecr etl
ybr oughtfor
thbythewi f
e.
5.Kanina–sonsecr etlybor ntoanunmar r
ieddamsel.
6.Puri
kaPut r
a–sonofanadopt eddaughter
.
7.Sahodhaj a–sonbor nofawi f
ewhowaspr egnantatt
hetimeofmar
ri
age.
8.Kri
ta–sonpur chased.
9.Kri
tri
ma–sonmade, t
hati s,
orphanadopted.
10.
Svayamdat ta–wher eanabandonedsonof fer
shimselft
osomeone.
11.
Punarbhav a–sonofar emar r
iedwoman.
12.
Apavidha–wher eanabandonedsonasaccept edbyapersononhi
sown
ini
ti
ati
v e.

82
ADOPTI
ON

Manudef i
nesanadoptedsonasf oll
ows:-“ A sonequali
ncasteand
aff
ect
ionat
elydi
sposedwhom hi
smot herorfatherorbothgi
vewit
hwaterata
ti
meofcalamit
y,i
sknownastheDatt
ri
ma( Dattaka)son”
.

Thusadopt
ionist hetranspl
antati
onofasonfrom thefamil
yinwhi
chhe
i
sborn,toanot
herfamilywher eheisgivenbythenat
uralparent
sbywayofgift
.
Theadoptedsonist hent akenasbei ngborninthenew familyandacqui
res
ri
ght
s,duti
esandstatust hereonlyandhi st
iewit
htheoldf amil
ycomestoan
end.

ConceptofAdopt
ionundert
hePr
esentHi
nduLaw:

Thel egi
slat
ure,whilepassi
ng Hindu Adopti
onsand Mai nt
enanceAct,
1956,hastakeni nview onl
ythesecularobj
ectofadopt i
on.Undert hi
sacta
daught
ercanalsobeadopt edwhereasshecanneitherof
ferfuner
alcakenorcan
perf
ormlastri
tesofdeceased.

TheActdoesnotprovi
defortheperf
ormanceofanyr
eli
giouscer
emonies
att
hetimeofadopti
on.I tpr
escri
besonlytheceremoni
esofgivi
ngandtaki
ng.
Thi
sfactoral
sor
endersadopt
ionasasecularact
.

TheActr ecei
vedtheassentofPr denton21stofDecember1956.I
esi nt
he
Actnodat ehasbeenf i
xedforit
senfor
cement.SounderSec.5oft heGeneral
ClausesAct ,1894,i
tshallbedeemedtohavecomei ntofor
ceont hesai
ddate,
i
.e.,21stDecember1956.

Changesmadebyt
hisAct
:

Thi
sActhasmadet
hef
oll
owi
ngchangesi
nthel
awr
elat
ingt
oadopt
ion:

1.Af
emal
eal
somaybeadopt
ed(
Sec.
7and8)
.

2.Avi
rgi
n,di
vorceeorwidowisent
it
ledt
oadoptandt
hewi
fecanal
soadopt
i
ncert
ainci
rcumstances(
Sec.8)
.

3.Amal
ecanadoptonl
ywi
tht
heconsentofhi
swi
feorwi
vesi
fany(
Sec.7)
.

4.Thefather
,wi
thouttheconsentofmot her
,cannotgi
veachi
l
dinadopt
ion
excepti
ncert
ainci
rcumstances(Sec.9).

5.Theadopteemustbebel ow 15yearsofageandunmar
ri
edunl
esst
he
cust
om permi
tssuchadopti
on(Sec.10)
.

6.Thecer
emonyofDat
taHomam i
snotessent
ial
(Sec.11)
.

83
 7.Thetheor
yof‘
rel
ationback’hasbeendi
spensedwithandt
headopt
ed
chi
l
dcomesint
oexistencef
rom t
hedat
eofadopti
on.

8.Adopt
ivef
atherormothershal
lnotbedepr
ivedofthei
rpowert
otr
ansf
er
thepr
oper
tymerelybyr
easonofadopti
onofachil
d(Sec.13)
.

9.Provisi
onrel
ati
ngt
oregi
str
ati
onandt
hepr
esumpt
iont
her
efor
ehasmade
(Sec.16).

10.
Ifachi
ldofopposi
tesexisadoptedtheremustbet
hedi
ff
erenceof21
year
sintheageoft
headopterandtheadopt
ee.

11.
Iti
snotnecessar
ythatt
headopt
erandt
headopt
eemustbeoft
hesame
cast.

Essent
ial
sofv
ali
dadopt
ion:

Sec.6oftheActenumer
atest
her
equi
sit
esofav
ali
dadopt
ion.Sec.6of
t
heActr
unsasfoll
ows:

a)Theper
sonadopt
inghast
hecapaci
tyandal
sor
ightt
otake
i
nadopti
on.

b)Theper
songi
vi
ngi
nadopt
ionhast
hecapaci
tyt
odoso.

c)Theper
sonadopt
edi
scapabl
eofbei
ngt
akeni
nadopt
ion.

Whomayadopt
?

Sect
ions7and8oftheHinduAdopt
ionsandMai
ntenanceAct
,1956,
deal
wi
tht
hepersonwhomayadoptachil
d.

Sec.7deal
wit
hadopt
ionbyamal
e.

Sec.8deal
swi
thadopt
ionbyaf
emal
e.

Whethermaleorfemal
e,theper
sonwhoi sadopt
ingachi
l
dmusthav
e
capaci
tyandal
sother
ightt
otakeachi
ldinadopt
ion.

Capaci
tyofaMal
etot
akei
nadopt
ion:

Sec.7laysdownthecapaci
tyofaMaleHindutot
akeachildi
nadopt
ion
andputscer
tainfor
mal
it
ies,aswil
lbeevi
dentf
rom t
hesect
ioni
tsel
fwhi
chruns
asfol
l
ows:

“AnymaleHi nduwhoi
snotmi
norhast
hecapaci
tyt
otakeasonor
daught
erinadopt
ion”.

84
Mi
nor
it
yandunsoundness:

Twoquali
fi
cat
ionsar
enecessar
yforamal
eHi
ndut
obecapabl
etot
akea
chi
l
dinadopt
ion:

a)t
heper
sonmustbeofsoundmi
nd;

b)hemustnotbeami
nor
.

Consentofwi
fe:

Theconsentofthewifeisabsol
utelynecessary
.Wher eaper sonhasgot
sever
all egal
lymarr
iedwi v
es,asitwasper missi
bleunderthel aw beforethe
enfor
cementoft heHinduMar ri
ageAct,1955,theconsentofallt
hewi veslivi
ng
atthetimeofadopti
onwoul dbenecessary.Thust heabsenceofconsentofany
oneoft hewiveswouldmaket headopt
ioninvali
d.Whereaper sonishavingwife
thr
oughv oi
dmarri
age,theconsentofsuchawi f
ewoul dnotbenecessar yfora
val
idadopt i
on.

Consentofwi
fewhennotnecessar
y:

Theconsentoft
hewi
fewi
l
lnotbenecessar
yift
hewi
fewhoseconsenti
s
soughthas–

(
a)compl
etel
yandf
inal
l
yrenouncedt
hewor
ld;

(
b)ceasedt
obeaHi
ndu;

(
c)Hasbeendecl
aredbyacour
tofcompet
entj
uri
sdi
cti
on
t
obeofanunsoundmind.

Whet
hert
heconsentofal
lthewi
vesnecessar
y?

Sec.7pr ovi
desthatifamanhasmor ethanonewi feli
vingatthet
imeof
adopti
ontheconsentofallthewivesmustbeobt ained.Butifanyoneofthem is
suff
eri
ngfrom anyofthreedisabi
l
iti
es(i
.e.
,ci
vildeath,apost
asyorunsoundness)
theconsentofsuchwifewhoi sundersuchdisabil
itymaybedi spensedwi
thand
theconsentofall
otherwivesmustbetaken.

I
ll
ust
rat
ion:

A,aHinduhasf ourwivesB, C,DandEl i

ving,
Bafter
wardsceasest obea
HinduandChast aken‘Vanaprastha’
.Awant stotakeSi nadopti
on.Bef ore
taki
ngSi nadoption,Amustobt ai
nt heconsentofDandEandheneednott ake
theconsentofBandCast heyar eunderthedisabi
li
ti
esandtheirconsentmay
bedispensedwith.

85
Capaci
tyofFemal
etot
akei
nAdopt
ion:

Sect
ion8oft
heActl
aysdownt
hecondi
ti
onsi
nwhi
chaHi
nduFemal
ecan
adopt
.Sec.
8runsasfol
l
ows:

“
Anyf
emal
eHi
ndu–

(
a)Whoi
sofsoundmi
nd?

(
b)Whoi
snotami
nor
?

(
c)Whoi
snotmar
ri
ed?

I
fmar
ri
ed–

Whose marr
iage has been dissol
ved -has compl
etel
y and fi
nall
y
renouncedtheworl
d-whosehusbanddead-hasceasedt obeaHi ndu-has
beendeclar
edbyacour tofcompetentjuri
sdi
cti
ontobeofunsoundmind,has
thecapaci
tytot
akeasonordaughterinadopti
on”.

I
ll
ust
rat
ion:

A,
duri
nghi
sbachelorhoodadopt
sasonP.Af t
ersometi
mehemar
ri
esY.
Hedidnothavesonf r
om Y,adopt sanothersonR. WhetherR i
saval
idl
y
adopt
edson?Theansweristhati
tisi
nval
i
dadoption.

Whomaygi
vei
nadopt
ion?

Sec.9laysdownthecapaci
tyofper
sons,whogi
vet
hechi
l
dinadopt
ion.
Sec.9runsasfol
lows:

Sec9–“
per
sonscapabl
eofgi
vi
ngi
nadopt
ion–

1.Noper
sonexceptt
hefatherormotherort
heguar
dianofachi
l
dshal
lhav
e
t
hecapaci
tyt
ogivethechil
dinadopti
on.

2.Themot hermaygivethechil
dinadopti
onifthefatheri
sdeadorhas
complet
elyandfi
nal
l
yrenouncedthewor
ldorhasceasedtobeaHinduor
hasbeendeclar
edbyacour tofcompet
entj
uri
sdi
ctiontobeofunsound
mind.

3.wher
eboththef
atherandmotherar
edeadorhavecompl
etel
yandfi
nall
y
r
enouncedt
heworldorhaveabandonedt
hechil
dorhavebeendecl
ared

86
 byacour
tofcompetentjur
isdict
iont
obeofunsoundmindorwher
et he
par
ent
ageofthechil
disnotknown,theguar
dianofachi
ldmaygiv
et he
chi
l
dinadopt
ionwiththeprevi
ouspermi
ssi
onofthecourtt
oanyperson
i
ncl
udi
ngtheguar
dianhimself
.

Accor
dingl
y,underSec.9,thr
eepersonshav ebeengi
vent
her
ightt
ogi
vea
chi
l
dinadopti
onandtheyinorderofpr
eferenceare:

(
1)Nat
ural
fat
her
,

(
2)Nat
ural
Mot
her
,

(
3)Theguar
dian.

Whomaybeadopt
ed?

Secti
on10oft heActprovi
desthequal if
icationsnecessar
yt omaket he
subjectofadopti
onfi
tforbei
ngtakeninadoption.TheActhast akenapr act
ical
viewofadopt i
onandconsequentl
ytheelaborater ulesregar
dingthepersonsto
beadopt edhavebeendroppedaswillbeevidentf rom Sec.10oft heActwhich
readsasf ol
l
ows:

“No per
son shal
lbe capabl
e ofbei
ng t
aken i
n adopt
ion unl
ess t
he
f
oll
owi
ngcondi
ti
onsareful
fi
ll
ed,
namely–

a)heorshei
saHi
ndu;

b)heorshehasnotal
readybeenadopt
ed;

c)heorshehasnotbeenmar r
ied,
unlessther
eisacust
om or
usageappl
icablet
ot hepart
ieswhichpermit
sper
sonswho
aremarr
iedbeingtakeninadopti
on;

d)heorshehasnotcompl et
edtheageof15y ears,unless
therei
sacustom orusageappli
cabl
etothepart
ieswhi ch
permit
spersonswhohav ecomplet
edtheageof15y ears
beingt
akeninadopt
ion;

Ef
fect
sofAdopt
ion:

Thetheoryofadopti
onundertheHinduLaw contempl
atesacompl et
e
sev
eranceoftheadopt
edchil
dfrom t
hefamil
yofhi
sbirt
h,bot
hinrespectofhi
s
pat
ernalaswell
asmaternal
li
nes.

Theef
fect
sofadopt
ioni
sgi
veni
nSec.12oft
heActwhi
chr
unsas
f
oll
ows:

“
Anadopt
edchi
l
dshal
lbedeemedt
obet
hechi
l
dofhi
sorheradopt
ive

87
fatherormotherf
orallpur
poseswit
heffectfr
om thedateoftheadopti
onand
from suchdateal
ltheti
esofthechil
dint hefamil
yofhisorherbi
rthshal
lbe
deemedt obesev eredandrepl
acedbyt hosecreatedbytheadopti
oninthe
adoptivef
amily
:

Pr
ovi
dedt
hat–

(
a)thechi
ldcannotmarr
yanypersonwhom heorshecoul
dnot
havemarr
iedifheorshehadconti
nuedi
nthefami
lyofhi
sor
herbi
rt
h;

(
b)anyproper t
ywhi ch vested i
nt he adopted chi
l
d beforethe
adopti
onshal lcont
inuetov estinsuchper sonsubjecttothe
obl
igat
ions,ifanyattachi
ngt otheowner shi
pofsuchpr oper
ty,
i
ncludi
ngt heobli
gati
ont omaintainr
elati
vesinthefamil
yofhis
orherbir
th;

(
c)t
headoptedchi
l
dshal lnotdiv
estanyper sonofanyest
ate
whi
chvest
edi
nhim orherbef
oretheadopt
ion”.

Ri
ghtofadopt
ivepar
ent
stodi
sposeoft
hei
rpr
oper
ty:

Sec.13deal
swi t
ht hepower
sofadopti
veparent
stodi
sposeoft
he
pr
oper
ty.Ri
ght
sofadopt
ivepar
ent
smaybest
atedasunder
:

(
1)Subj
ectt o anyagreementt othe cont
rary
,an adopti
on does not
depri
vetheadopti
vefatherormotheroft
hepowertodisposeofhi
sor
herproper
tybytr
ansferint
ervi
vosorbywill
.

(
2)Theparent
shaveabsol
uter
ightofdi
sposal
int
hepr
oper
tiesbel
ongi
ng
tothem. Theseri
ghtsarenotcurtai
l
edbytheadopt
ionofsonor
daught
er.

(
3)Theadopt
ivepar
ent
shav
epowert
otr
ansf
ert
hepr
oper
tyi
nterv
ivosor
bywil
l
.

Det
ermi
nat
ionofadopt
ivepar
ent
s:

Sec.14oftheActexpl
ainst
herul
etodet
ermi
neast
owhoi
stheadopt
ive
f
atheroradopt
ivemotheroft
headopt
ed.

Sec.14r
unsasf
oll
ows:

(
a)WhereaHinduwhohasawi feli
vi
ngadopt
sachi
l
d,sheshal
lbe
deemedt
obetheadopt
ivemot
her
.

88
 (
b)Whereanadopti
onhasbeenmadewi t
htheconsentofmoret
hanone
wi
fe,thecent
ermostinmarr
iageamongthem shal
lbedeemedtobe
t
headoptiv
emot herandt
heother
stobestep-
mother
s.

(
c)Whereawi dowerorabachel
oradopt
sachi
ld,anywi
fewhom he
subsequent
lymar
ri
esshal
lbedeemedt
obet
hestep–motheroft
he
adoptedchi
ld.

(
d)Whereawi dow oranunmarri
edwomanadoptsachi
ld,anyhusband
whom shemar ri
essubsequentl
yshal
lbedeemedtobet hestep–
f
atheroft
headopt edchi
l
d.

Val
i
dAdopt
ionnoti
scancel
l
ed:

Sec.15laysdown“ noadopti
onwhichhasbeenv ali
dlymadecanbe
cancell
edbyt headopti
vefat
herormot heroranyotherper
son,norcanthe
adoptedchil
drenouncehi
sorherst
atusassuchandr
eturnt
othefamil
yofhi
sor
herbir
th.

Pr
oofofadopt
ion:

Sec.16laysdown“ whenev eranydocumentr egisteredunderanylawfor

theti
mebei nginforceispr oducedbef oreanycourtpur por
ti
ngt orecor
dan
adopt
ionmadeandi ssignedbyt hepersongivi
ngandt heper sontaki
ngthechi
ld
i
n adopti
on,the courtshallpresume t hatthe adoption has been made in
compli
ancewitht
hepr ovi
sionsofthisActunlessandunt i
litisdi
sproved”
.

Thepresumpti
on pr
ovi
ded bySec.16,shal
lnotbemadeunl
esst
he
f
oll
owi
ngcondi
ti
onsarecompl
iedwit
h:

1.t
her
emustbeadocument
;

2.i
tmustber
egi
ster
edundert
hel
awi
nfor
ce;

3.i
tmustpur
por
ttor
ecor
danadopt
ion;

4.t
hedocumentmustbesignedbybotht
hegi
verandt
het
akeroft
hechi
l
d
i
nadopt
ionandnotbyonl
yoneofthem;

5.i
tmustbepr
oducedbef
oret
hecour
t;

89
90