THE HINDU INHERITANCE

(REMOVAL OF DISABILITIES) ACT, 1928

(XII of 1928)

CONTENTS
SECTION HEADING
1. Short title, extent and application.
2. Persons not to be excluded from inheritance or rights in joint-family property.
3. Saving and exception.

THE HINDU INHERITANCE

[1]

(REMOVAL OF DISABILITIES) ACT, 1928

(Act XII of 1928)
[20 September 1928]
An Act to amend the Hindu Law relating to exclusion from inheritance of certain classes of
heirs, and to remove certain doubts.
Whereas it is expedient to amend the Hindu Law relating to exclusion from inheritance of
certain classes of heirs, and to remove certain doubts;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and application.– (1) This Act may be called the Hindu Inheritance
(Removal of Disabilities) Act, 1928.
[2]
[(2) It extends to the whole of [3][the Punjab]].
(3) It shall not apply to any persons governed by the Dayabhaga School of Hindu Law.
2. Persons not to be excluded from inheritance or rights in joint-family
property.– Notwithstanding any rule of Hindu Law or custom to the contrary, no person
governed by the Hindu Law, other then a person who is and has been from birth a lunatic or
idiot, shall be excluded from inheritance or from any right or share in joint-family property by
reason only of any disease, deformity or physical or mental defect.
3. Saving and exception.– Nothing contained in this Act shall affect any right which has
accrued or any liability which has been incurred before the commencement thereof, or shall be
deemed to confer upon any person any right in respect of any religious office or service or of the
management of any religious or charitable trust which he would not have had if this Act had not
been passed.

[1]
For the statement of Objects and Reasons, see, Gazette of India, 1928, Pt. V, p.51.
This Act was originally in the Federal ambit, however, the subject on which this law was enacted devolved to the provinces by virtue of
18th Amendment in the Constitution, hence it was adapted, with amendments, for the province of the Punjab by the Hindu Inheritance (Removal of
Disabilities) (Amendment) Act 2012 (XI of 2012).
[2]
Substituted by the Central Laws (Statute Reform) Ordinance, 1960 (XXI of 1960), s.3 and 2 nd Sch. (with effect from the 14th October, 1955), for
the original sub-section (2), as amended by Adaptation Order, 1949, and the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Act, 1951 (XXVI of
1951), s.8.
[3]
Substituted for the word “Pakistan” by the Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) (Amendment) Act 2012 (XI of 2012).
 THE HINDU LAW OF INHERITANCE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1929
(II of 1929)
CONTENTS

SECTION HEADING

1. Short title, extent and application.

2. Order of succession of certain heirs.
3. Savings.

[1]
THE HINDU LAW OF INHERITANCE (AMENDMENT)
ACT, 1929
(Act II of 1929)
[21 February 1929]

An Act to alter the order in which certain heirs of a Hindu male dying intestate are entitled to
succeed to his estate.

WHEREAS it is expedient to alter the order in which certain heirs of a Hindu male dying
intestate are entitled to succeed to his estate;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-

1. Short title, extent and application.– (1) This Act may be called the Hindu Law of
Inheritance (Amendment) Act, 1929.
(2) It extends to [2][the whole of [3][the Punjab], but it applies only to persons who, but for the
passing of this Act; would have been subject to the law of Mitakshara in respect of the provisions
herein enacted, and it applies to such persons in respect only of the property of males not held in
coparcenary and not disposed of by will.

2. Order of succession of certain heirs.– A son’s daughter, daughter’s daughter, sister, and
sister’s son shall, in the order so specified, be entitled to rank in the order of succession next after
a father’s father and before the father’s brothers:
Provided that a sister’s son shall not include a son adopted after the sister’s death.

3. Savings.– Nothing in this Act shall–

(a) affect any special family or local custom having the force of law, or
(b) vest in a son’s daughter, daughter’s daughter or sister an estate larger than, or different in
kind from, that possessed by a female in property inherited by her from a male according
to the School of Mitakshara law by which the male was governed, or
(c) enable more than one person to succeed by inheritance to the estate of a deceased Hindu
male which by a customary or other rule of succession descends to a single heir.

[1]
For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Gazette of India, 1928, Pt.V, p.117; for Report of Select Committee, see ibid, p.187.
This Act was extended to the Leased Areas of Baluchistan, see the Leased Areas (Laws) Order, 1950 (G.G.O. 3 of 1950); and applied in the
Federated Areas of Baluchistan, see Gazette of India, 1937, Pt.I, p.1499.
This Act was originally in the Federal ambit, however, the subject on which this law was enacted devolved to the provinces by virtue of
18th Amendment in the Constitution, hence it was adapted, with amendments, for the province of the Punjab by the Hindu Law of Inheritance
(Second Amendment) Act 2012 (XVIII of 2012).
[2]
The original words “the whole of British India, including British Baluchistan and the Sonthal Parganas” have successively been amended by
Adaptation Order, 1949, the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Act, 1951 (XXVI of 1951), and the Central Laws (Statute Reform)
Ordinance, 1960 (XXI of 1960), s.3 and 2nd Sch. (with effect from the 14th, October 1955), to read as such.
[3]
Substituted for the word “Pakistan” by the Hindu Law of Inheritance (Second Amendment) Act 2012 (XVIII of 2012).