‘new de ta, > and legal usion 2 in ht of erty, sting stion ment > the the ) the ting win that tial ynal on ode aus the y 10 ode Act ling sh nme SUCCESSION Objects.—The Hindu Succession referred to as the Act) has been passed to femoves inequalities between men and wo: volves a list of heits entitled to succeed o} rather than on religious efficacy. The Act Law regarding succession, 258 Act, 1956 (Act No, 30 of 1956, hereinafter Meet the needs of a progressive society. It men with respect to rights in property and it n intestacy based on natural love and affection has been passed to codify and amend the Hindu property with the same rights and obligations, now entitled to dispose of her interest in the Mitakshara coparcenary property by will ‘The devolution of interest of a Mitakshara coparcener in the Joint Hindu Family property has been done away with by this Amending Act. Moreover, Sections 4 (2), 23 and 24 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 have been omitted by the Amending Act. Main features of the Act—1. The Act applies to all Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs but not to Muslims, Parsis, Christians and Jews, It has further been extended even to those persons, one of whose parents is a Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh and who is brought up as a Hindu. [Section 2], One of the most important features of the Act is that the right of a Hindu female to inherit property has been fully recognized and she has been made entitled to a share equal to the male heirs. Women's limited estate has been abolished and whatever property has been or shall be inherited by a Hindu female will be or shall be her absolute property. ‘The Act has given an important place to Hindu females in the classification of heirs. 2. she Act has abolished impartible estate and the special mode of its succession, » which a male coparcener has, and she is [Section 5]. 3. The Act does not apply to the property of a person who has contracted marriage under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. [Section 5]. 4.-The concept of corparcenary has undergone a change in the sense that succession to coparcenary property was governed by rule of survivorship. In this rule the female heirs did not have any place and the property, on the death of a male heir, devolved upon the rest of the male members of the coparcenary. Now under the Act the rule of survivorship has been abolished. The Act provides for four categories of heirs, the first of \hieh is class I heirs, which consists of eleven female heirs and five male heirs. 5. The order of succession provided by the Act is based on the concept of love and affection. The rule of preference based on right to offer pinda or propinquity of blood has been discarded by the Act. 6. The Act entitles even remotest agnate or cognate to be the heir. 7. The Act makes no distinction between male and female heirs. 8. The Act has repealed provisions of different Acts relating to succession under Matriarchal system prevailing in the South. [Section 7] ‘ 9. The Act has provided uniform order of succession governing the property of a male Hindu, with a few changes in respect of the Marumakkattayam and Aliyasanrana Law. (Sections 8 and 17],= HINDU LAW succession prevailing under with the rules 0} ining rules ih Jo, The Act has aire ied nfo code for determining ues of succes, 25. The righ 7 and Dayabhaga lav 80 sion of agnates or cognates, as a eee ee be, is Accor preserved and re 11. Te order of Sd they are computed according fo the rues gi dot agrees [Section 12}, to the degrees 286 illegitimate son of present Act. ion 13); lu tideaderdgesiaensss ane aoe a indu women's limited esta - ca 12. The Act has a properties under their lawful Posen hioduertin ae ither per stripes | own eat the Act (Seton 14) : : ct pets ‘commenceme! jided uniform order of succession also with respec, tay Berio 13, The Act has ae woman dies intestate, her children would become her fae “4 ain, ene rter pareniatn the!aBsence-oF any ise, : een bees flowed ner would revet io his family and property inherited pr? % a. aaa eer in‘aw will ever to husband's heirs (Sections 16 and 17) hust or r-in-] the number of I 14, The full blood shall exelude the half blood where the relationship is the same), Therefore, each other respects. (Section 18). : 15. Where two or more heirs'succeed to the property of an intestate, they shall up Spes suc ¥ tirpes and as tenants-in-common and not as join succeed’. Accord a is not transferable tenants. 16, The right of child in wombat the intestate's death and subsequently born ai Scope ar shall relate back to the date of intestate's death. [Section 20]. (@) to any perso 17. Where property of an intestate devolves upon two or more heirs and any onecl aes iS di Such heirs proposes to transfer his or her interest, the other heirs shall have a preferen! a ae ‘ight to acquire the interest proposed to be transferred, i.e. the Act recognizes the so-calei poe heh poe right of pre-emption. [Section 22). usage as part of t 18, Before the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 the Act gave fo not been passed. pene vant & widow, or a Woman deserted by or separated from her nee The Act sh te Hy ee i [Section 23]. By this Amending Act, Section of Clause (25) 0 Notification in th to the property of person murdered. Succession Act is descendants have been disqualified from inheriting the propery Certain {Section 26) is interesting to note that under the Act the con\et explanation -— ied but itis only his descendants, 19. Murderer is not entitled to succeed _ 20. A conyers their Hindu relatives, has not been disqualiti arg, 21. The disqualified heir i Who are excluded from inherit : aerate (Section 27) reated as one Who had predeceased the intest#! adoption, but wh mace or adoption, but : he weet oF deformity is ton fot So is the case wit Fh ntti Aet (Section ag)” P™ Not any. ground of exclusion One or more fer Unchastty iso ig ‘ daughter, sister's ‘i , an, BEF 8 BrOUNd Of exclusion from inheritance on the pt” Whereas one's fath . wt he vAse, eae , the collateral line tahshara eo Male or female Hi, i »Parces le Hind, i . interest ———— ay PY Wil (Section 3p)“ SPOS€ Of his or her ine 1. Latsaiv. BodSUCCESSION 257 25, The right of illegitimate children to succeed to their mother’s property has been reserved and recognized but not to the father's property, On the other hand the {iegitimate son of a person by a continuously kept concubine is not recognized under the present Act. Distinction between per stripes and per capita distribution — ‘succession among the heirs of the same class but belonging to different branches may be ether per stripes or per capita. In a per stripes distribution, the several heirs who belong to different branches, get their share only from that property which is available to the branch t which they belong. In other words, in the stripal succession, the quantum of available to each heir depends on the property available to his branch rather than the swmber of all the heirs. In a per capita distribution, on the other hand, the succession is according to the number of heirs. Among them, the estate of the deceased is equally divided. ‘Therefore, each heir gets equal quantity of property from the heritable assets of the deceased, Spes successionis.—The words ‘spes successionis’ mean ‘expectation to succeed”. According to Section 6 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, spes suecessionis is not transferable, Scope and application of the Act—The Hindu Succession Act applies— (a) to any person, who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj; (@) to any person who is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion; and (¢) to any other person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion, unless it is proved that any such person would not have been governed by the Hindu law or by any custom or usage as part of that law in respect of any of the matter dealt with lierein if this Act had not been passed. ‘The Act shall not apply to the members of any Scheduled ‘Tribe within the meaning of Clause (25) of Article 366 of the Constitution unless the Central Government, by ‘otification in the Official Gazette, otherwise directs, (Section 2 of the Act). The Hindu Succession Act is applicable to members of Uraon community. Certain Terms explained.—Following’ terms, however, need some explanation ;— Agnate and Cognate.—Agnate means a person related by blood, or adoption, but wholly through males ; whereas cognate means a person’ related by blood, or adoption, but nor wholly through males. The agnatic relation may be male or female. So is the case with cognatic relation. Where a person is related to the deceased through ‘one or more females, he or she is called a ‘cognate’, Thus son's daughter's son or daughter, sister's son or sister's daughter, mother’s brother's son, etc., are cognates, whereas one’s father, grandfather, etc. in the ascending line ; father’s brother's son ete,, in ‘he collateral line ; or son, grandson in the descending line are agnates. aie eet nr atten Lalsai y, Bodhan Ram, AIR 2001 MP 159; Kallash Singh v. Mewalal Singh Gond, AIR 2002 MP 112, — H | b Ii i 4