HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956
HINDU
SUCCESSION ACT, 1956
[Act
No. 30 of Year 1956, dated 17th. June, 1956]
An
Act to amend and codify the law relating to intestate succession
among Hindus
Be it enacted
by Parliament in the Seventh Year of the Republic of India as
follows: -
CHAPTER
I: PRELIMINARY
1.
Short title and extent
(1)
This Act may be called the Hindu Succession Act, 1956
(2)
It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and
Kashmir.
2. Application of
Act
(1) This 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;
(b) to any person
who is Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion; and
(c)
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 matters dealt with herein if this Act
had not been passed.
Explanation
: The following persons are Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas or Sikhs by
religion, as the case may be:-
(a)
any child, legitimate or illegitimate, both of whose parents are
Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas or Sikhs by religion;
(b)
any child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose parents is a
Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion and who is brought up as a
member of the tribe, community, group or family to which such parent
belongs or belonged;
(c)
any person who is a convert or re-convert to the Hindu, Buddhist,
Jaina or Sikh religion.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), nothing
contained in this Act shall 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 notification in the
Official Gazette, otherwise directs.
(3)
The expression "Hindu" in any portion of this Act shall be
construed as if it included a person who, though not a Hindu by
religion, is, nevertheless, a person to whom this Act applies by
virtue of the provisions contained in this section.
3.
Definitions and interpretations
(1)
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
(a)
"agnate" - one person is said to be an "agnate"
of another if the two are related by blood or adoption wholly through
males;
(b) "Aliyasantana
law" means the system of law applicable to persons who, if this
Act had not been passed, would have been governed by the Madras
Aliyasantana Act, 1949, or by the customary Aliyasantana law with
respect to the matters for which provision is made in this Act;
(c) "cognate" - one
person is said to be a cognate of another if the two are related by
blood or adoption but not wholly through males;
(d)
the expressions "custom" and "usage" signify any
rule which having been continuously and uniformly observed for a long
time, has obtained the force of law among Hindus in any local area,
tribe, community, group or family:
PROVIDED
that the rule is certain and not unreasonable or opposed to public
policy:
PROVIDED
FURTHER that in the case of a rule applicable only to a family it has
not been discontinued by the family;
(e)
"full blood", "half blood" and "uterine
blood"-
(i) two
persons said to be related to each other by full blood when they are
descended from a common ancestor by the same wife, and by half blood
when they are descended from a common ancestor but by different
wives;
(ii) two persons are
said to be related to each other by uterine blood when they are
descended from a common ancestress but by different husbands;
Explanation
: In this clause "ancestor" includes the father and
"ancestress" the mother,
(f)
"heir" means any person, male or female, who is entitled to
succeed to the property of an intestate under this Act;
(g)
"intestate" - a person is deemed to die intestate in
respect of property of which he or she has not made a testamentary
disposition capable of taking effect;
(h)
"marumakkattayam law" means the system of law applicable to
persons-
(a) who, if this
Act had not been passed, would have been governed by the Madras
Marumakkattayam Act, 1932; the Travancore Nayar Act; the Travancore
Ezhava Act; the Travancore Nanjinad Vellala Act; the Travancore
Kshatriya Act; the Travancore Krishnanvaka Marumakkathayyee Act; the
Cochin Marumakkathayam Act; or the Cochin Nayar Act with respect to
the matters for which provision is made in this Act; or
(b)
who belong to any community, the members of which are largely
domiciled in the State of Travancore-Cochin or Madras 1[as it existed
immediately before the lst November, 1956,] and who, if this Act had
not been passed, would have been governed with respect to the matters
for which provision is made in this Act by any system of inheritance
in which descent is traced through the female line;
but
does not include the Aliyasantana law;
(i)
" Nambudri law " means the system of law applicable to
persons who if this Act had not been passed, would have been governed
by the Madras Nambudri Act, 1932; the Cochin Nambudri Act; or the
Travancore Malayala Brahmin Act with respect to the matters for which
provision is made in this Act;
(j)
"related" means related by legitimate kinship:
PROVIDED
that illegitimate children shall be deemed to be related to their
mother and to one another, and their legitimate descendants shall be
deemed to be related to them and to one another; and any word
expressing relationship or denoting a relative shall be construed
accordingly.
(2) In this
Act, unless the context otherwise requires, words imparting the
masculine gender shall not be taken to include females.
4.
Overriding effect of Act
(1)
Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act,-
(a)
any text, rule or interpretation of Hindu law or any custom or usage
as part of that law in force immediately before the commencement of
this Act shall cease to have effect with respect to any matter for
which provision is made in this Act;
(b)
any other law in force immediately before the commencement of this
Act shall cease to apply to Hindus insofar as it is inconsistent with
any of the provisions contained in this Act.
(2)
For the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that nothing
contained in this Act shall be deemed to affect the provisions of any
law for the time being in force providing for the prevention of
fragmentation of agricultural holdings or for the fixation of
ceilings or for the devolution of tenancy rights in respect of such
holdings.
CHAPTER
II: INTESTATE SUCCESSION
GENERAL
5. Act not to apply to certain
properties
This Act shall
not apply to-
(i) any
property succession to which is regulated by the Indian Succession
Act, 1925, by reason of the provisions contained in section 21 of the
Special Marriage Act, 1954;
(ii)
any estate which descends to a single heir by the terms of any
covenant or agreement entered into by the Ruler of any Indian State
with the Government of India or by the terms of any enactment passed
before the commencement of this Act;
(iii)
the Valiamma Thampuran Kovilagam Estate and the Palace Fund
administered by the Palace Administration Board by reason of the
powers conferred by Proclamation (IX of 1124) dated 29th June, 1949,
promulgated by the Maharaja of Cochin.
6.
Devolution of interest of coparcenary property
When
a male Hindu dies after the commencement of this Act, having at the
time of his death an interest in a Mitakshara coparcenary property,
his interest in the property shall devolve by survivorship upon the
surviving members of the coparcenary and not in accordance with this
Act:
PROVIDED
that, if the deceased had left him surviving a female relative
specified in class I of the Schedule or a male relative specified in
that class who claims through such female relative, the interest of
the deceased in the Mitakshara coparcenary property shall devolve by
testamentary or intestate succession, as the case may be, under this
Act and not by survivorship.
Explanation
I: For the purposes of this section, the interest of a Hindu
Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to be the share in the property
that would have been allotted to him if a partition of the property
had taken place immediately before his death, irrespective of whether
he was entitled to claim partition or not.
Explanation
2: Nothing contained in the proviso to this section shall be
construed as enabling a person who has separated himself from the
coparcenary before the death of the deceased or any of his heirs to
claim on intestacy a share in the interest referred to therein.
7. Devolution of interest in the
property of a tarwad, tavazhi, kutumba, kavaru or illom
(1)
When a Hindu to whom the marumakkattayam or nambudri law would have
applied if this Act had not been passed dies after the commencement
of this Act, having at the time of his or her death an interest in
the property of a tarwad, tavazhi or illom, as the case may be, his
or her interest in the property shall devolve by testamentary or
intestate succession, as the case may be, under this Act and not
according to the marumakkattayam or numbudri law.
Explanation
: For the purposes of this sub-section, the interest of a Hindu in
the property of a tarwad, tavazhi or illom shall be deemed to be the
share in the property of the tarwad, tavazhi or illom, as the case
may be, that would have fallen to him or her if a partition of that
property per capita had been made immediately before his or her death
among all the members of tarwad, tavazhi or illom, as the case may
be, then living, whether he or she was entitled to claim such
partition or not under the marumakkattayam or nambudri law applicable
to him or her, and such share shall be deemed to have been allotted
to him or her absolutely.
(2)
When a Hindu to whom the aliyasantana law would have applied if this
Act had not been passed, dies after the commencement of this Act,
having at the time of his or her death an undivided interest in the
property of a kutumba or kavaru, as the case may be his or her
interest in the property shall devolve by testamentary or intestate
succession, as the case may be, under this Act and not according to
the aliyasantana law.
Explanation
: For the purposes of this sub-section, the interest of a Hindu in
the property of kutumba or kavaru shall be deemed to be the share in
the property of the kutumba or kavaru as the case may be, that would
have fallen to him or her if a partition of that property per capita
had been made immediately before his or her death among all the
members of the kutumba or kavaru, as the case may be, then living,
whether he or she was entitled to claim such partition or not under
the aliyasantana law, and such share shall be deemed to have been
allotted to him or her absolutely.
(3)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), when a
sthanamdar dies after the commencement of this Act, sthanam property
held by him shall devolve upon the members of the family to which the
sthanamdar belonged and the heirs of the sthanamdar as if the sthanam
property had been divided per capita immediately before the death of
the sthanamdar among himself and all the members of his family then
living, and the shares falling to the members of his family and the
heirs of the sthanamdar shall be held by them as their separate
property.
Explanation: For
the purposes of this sub-section, the family of a sthanamdar shall
include every branch of that family, whether divided or undivided,
the male members of which would have been entitled by any custom or
usage to succeed to the position of sthanamdar if this Act had not
been passed.
8.General
rules of succession in the case of males
The
property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to
the provisions of this Chapter-
(a)
firstly, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class I of
the Schedule;
(b) secondly,
if there is no heir of class I, then upon the heirs, being the
relatives specified in class II of the Schedule;
(c)
thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the
agnates of the deceased; and
(d)
lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the
deceased.
9. Order of
succession among heirs in the Schedule
Among
the heirs specified in the Schedule, those in class I shall take
simultaneously and to the exclusion of all other heirs; those in the
first entry in class II shall be preferred to those in the second
entry; those in the second entry shall be preferred to those in the
third entry; and so on in succession.
10
Distribution of property among heirs in class I of the Schedule
The property of an intestate shall
be divided among the heirs in class I of the Schedule in accordance
with the following rules:
Rule
1-The intestate’s widow, or if there are more widows than one, all
the widows together, shall take one share.
Rule
2-The surviving sons and daughters and the mother of the intestate
shall each take one share.
Rule
3-The heirs in the branch of each pre-deceased son or each
pre-deceased daughter of the intestate shall take between them one
share.
Rule
4-The distribution of the share referred to in Rule 3-
(i)
among the heirs in the branch of the pre-deceased son shall be so
made that his widow (or widows together) and the surviving sons and
daughters get equal portions; and the branch of his predeceased sons
gets the same portion;
(ii)
among the heirs in the branch of the pre-deceased daughter shall be
so made that the surviving sons and daughters get equal portions.
11. Distribution of property among
heirs in class II of the Schedule
The
property of an intestate shall be divided between the heirs specified
in any one entry in class II of the Schedule so that they share
equally.
12. Order of
succession among agnates and cognates
The
order of succession among agnates or cognates, as the case may be,
shall be determined in accordance with the rules of preference laid
down hereunder:
Rule 1- Of
two heirs, the one who has fewer or no degrees of ascent is
preferred.
Rule 2- Where
the number of degrees of ascent is the same or none, that heir is
preferred who has fewer or no degrees of descent.
Rule
3- Where neither heirs is entitled to be preferred to the other under
Rule 1 or Rule 2 they take simultaneously.
13.
Computation of degrees
(1)
For the purposes of determining the order of succession among agnates
or cognates, relationship shall be reckoned from the intestate to the
heir in terms of degrees of ascent or degrees of descent or both, as
the case may be.
(2)
Degrees of ascent and degrees of descent shall be computed inclusive
of the intestate.
(3) Every
generation constitutes a degree either ascending or descending.
14. Property of a female Hindu to
be her absolute property
(1)
Any property possessed by a Female Hindu, whether acquired before or
after the commencement of this Act, shall be held by her as full
owner thereof and not as a limited owner.
Explanation:
In this sub-section, "property" includes both movable and
immovable property acquired by a female Hindu by inheritance or
devise, or at a partition, or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of
maintenance, or by gift from any person, whether a relative or not,
before, at or after her marriage, or by her own skill or exertion, or
by purchase or by prescription, or in any other manner whatsoever,
and also any such property held by her as stridhana immediately
before the commencement of this Act.
(2)
Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to any property
acquired by way of gift or under a will or any other instrument or
under a decree or order of a civil court or under an award where the
terms of the gift, will or other instrument or the decree, order or
award prescribe a restricted estate in such property.
Comment:
The case of the widow who had temporarily lost the right in the
property by virtue of the transfer in favour of the alienee or the
donee cannot be equated with that of a stranger by forgetting the
realities of the situation. Surely, the act was intended to benefit
her. And when the widow becomes possessed of the property, having
regained precisely that interest which she had temporarily lost
during the duration of the eclipse, Section 14(l) would come to her
rescue which would not be the matter in the case of a stranger who
cannot invoke Section 14(1). Jagannathan Pillai v. Kunjithapadam
Pillai, AIR 1987 SUPREME COURT 1493
15.
General rules of succession in the case of female Hindus
(1)
The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve
according to the rules set out in section 16 :
(a)
firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any
pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband;
(b)
secondly, upon the heirs of the husband;
(c)
thirdly, upon the mother and father;
(d)
fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and
(e)
lastly, upon the heirs of the mother.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1)-
(a)
any property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother
shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased
(including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon
the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified
therein, but upon the heirs of the father; and
(b)
any property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or from her
father-in-law shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of
the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased son or
daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in
the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the husband.
16. Order of succession and manner
of distribution among heirs of a female Hindu
The
order of succession among the heirs referred to in section 15 shall
be, and the distribution of the intestate’s property among those
heirs shall take place, according to the following rules, namely:-
Rule
1- Among the heirs specified in sub-section (1) of section 15, those
in one entry shall be preferred to those in any succeeding entry and
those including in the same entry shall take simultaneously.
Rule
2- If any son or daughter of the intestate had pre-deceased the
intestate leaving his or her own children alive at the time of the
intestate’s death, the children of such son or daughter shall take
between them the share which such son or daughter would have taken if
living at the intestate’s death.
Rule
3-The devolution of the property of the intestate on the heirs
referred to in clauses (b), (d) and (e) of sub-section (1) and in
sub-section (2) of section 15 shall be in the same order and
according to the same rules as would have applied if the property had
been the father’s or the mother’s or the husband’s as the case
may be, and such person had died intestate in respect thereof
immediately after the intestate’s death.
17.
Special provisions respecting persons governed by Marumakkattayam and
Aliyasantana laws
The
provisions of sections 8, 10, 15 and 23 shall have effect in relation
to persons who would have been governed by the marumakkattayam law or
aliyasantana law if this Act had not been passed as if-
(i)
for sub-clauses (c) and (d) of section 8, the following had been
substituted, namely:-
"(c)
thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon his
relatives, whether agnates or cognates.";
(ii)
for clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (1) of section 15, the
following had been substituted, namely:-
"(a)
firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any
pre-deceased son or daughter) and the mother;
(b)
secondly, upon the father and the husband;
(c)
thirdly, upon the heirs of the mother;
(d)
fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and
(e)
lastly, upon the heirs of the husband.";
(iii)
clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 15 had been omitted;
(iv) section 23 had been omitted.
GENERAL
PROVISIONS RELATING TO SUCCESSION
18.
Full blood preferred to half blood
Heirs
related to an intestate by full blood shall be preferred to heirs
related by half blood, if the nature of the relationship is the same
in every other respect.
19.
Mode of succession of two or more heirs
If
two or more heirs succeed together to the property of an intestate,
they shall take the property-
(a)
save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, per capita and not
per stripes; and
(b) as
tenants-in-common and not as joint tenants.
20.
Right of child in womb
A
child who was in the womb at the time of death of an intestate and
who is subsequently born alive has the same right to inherit to the
intestate as if he or she had been born before the death of the
intestate, and the inheritance shall be deemed to vest in such a case
with effect from the date of the death of the intestate.
21.
Presumption in cases of simultaneous deaths
Where
two persons have died in circumstances rendering it uncertain whether
either of them, and if so which, survived the other, then for all
purposes affecting succession to property, it shall be presumed,
until the contrary is proved, that the younger survived the elder.
22. Preferential right to acquire
property in certain cases
(1)
Where, after the commencement of this Act, interest in any immovable
property of an intestate, or in any business carried on by him or
her, whether solely or in conjunction with others, devolve upon to
two or more heirs specified in class I of the Schedule, and any one
of such heirs proposes to transfer his or her interest in the
property or business, the other heirs shall have a preferential right
to acquire the interest proposed to be transferred.
(2)
The consideration for which any interest in the property of the
deceased may be transferred under this section shall, in the absence
of any agreement between the parties, be determined by the court on
application being made to it in this behalf, and if any person
proposing to acquire the interest is not willing to acquire it for
the consideration so determined, such person shall be liable to pay
all costs of or incident to the application.
(3)
If there are two or more heirs specified in class I of the Schedule
proposing to acquire any interest under this section, that heir who
offers the highest consideration for the transfer shall be preferred.
Explanation : In this section,
"court" means the court within the limits of whose
jurisdiction the immovable property is situate or the business is
carried on, and includes any other court which the State Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf.
23. Special provision respecting
dwelling houses
Where a
Hindu intestate has left surviving him or her both male and female
heirs specified in class I of the Schedule and his or her property
includes a dwelling-house wholly occupied by members of his or her
family, then, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the
right of any such female heir to claim partition of the
dwelling-house shall not arise until the male heirs choose to divide
their respective shares therein; but the female heir shall be
entitled to a right of residence therein:
PROVIDED
that where such female heir is a daughter, she shall be entitled to a
right of residence in the dwelling-house only if she is unmarried or
has been deserted by or has separated from her husband or is a widow.
24. Certain widows remarrying may
not inherit as widows
Any
heir who is related to an intestate as the widow of a pre-deceased
son, the widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son or the
widow of a brother shall not be entitled to succeed to the property
of the intestate as such widow, if on the date the succession opens,
she has re-married.
25.
Murderer disqualified
A
person who commits murder or abets the commission of murder shall be
disqualified from inheriting the property of the person murdered, or
any other property in furtherance of the succession to which he or
she committed or abetted the commission of the murder.
26.
Convert’s descendants disqualified
Where,
before or after the commencement of this Act, a Hindu has ceased or
ceases to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion, children born
to him or her after such conversion and their descendants shall be
disqualified from inheriting the property of any of their Hindu
relatives, unless such children or descendants are Hindus at the time
when the succession opens.
27.
Succession when heir disqualified
If
any person is disqualified from inheriting any property under this
Act, it shall devolve as if such person had died before the
intestate.
28. Disease,
defect, etc. not to disqualify
No
person shall be disqualified from succeeding to any property on the
ground of any disease, defect or deformity, or save as provided in
this Act, on any other ground whatsoever.
ESCHEAT
29. Failure of heirs
If
an intestate has left no heir qualified to succeed to his or her
property in accordance with the provisions of this Act, such property
shall devolve on the government; and the government shall take the
property subject to all the obligations and liabilities to which an
heir would have been subjected.
Chapter
III: TESTAMENTARY SUCCESSION
30.
Testamentary succession
2[*
* *] Any Hindu may dispose of by will or other testamentary
disposition any property, which is capable of being so disposed of by
him, in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Succession Act,
1925, or any other law for the time being in force and applicable to
Hindus.
Explanation:
The interest of a male Hindu in a Mitakshara coparcenary property or
the interest of a member of a tarwad, tavazhi, illom, kutumba or
kavaru in the property of the tarwad, tavazhi, illom, kutumba or
kavaru shall notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any
other law for the time being in force, be deemed to be property
capable of being disposed of by him or by her within the meaning of
this 3[section.]
4[* * *]
CHAPTER
IV: REPEAL
31.
Repeal
[Rep. by Repealing
and Amending Act, 1960 (58 of 1960)]
THE
SCHEDULE
[Section 8]
HEIRS
IN CLASS I AND CLASS II
CLASS
I
Son; daughter; widow;
mother; son of a pre-deceased son; daughter of a pre-deceased son;
son of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased daughter;
widow of a pre-deceased son; son of a pre-deceased son of a
pre-deceased son; daughter of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased
son; widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son.
CLASS
II
I. Father.
II.
(1) Son’s daughter’s son, (2) son’s daughter’s daughter, (3)
brother, (4) sister.
III.
(1) Daughter’s son’s son, (2) daughter’s son’s daughter, (3)
daughter’s daughter’s son, (4) daughter’s daughter’s
daughter.
IV. (1) Brother’s
son, (2) sister’s son, (3) brother’s daughter, (4) sister’s
daughter.
V. Father’s
father; father’s mother.
VI..
Father’s widow; brother’s widow.
VII.
Father’s brother; father’s sister.
VIII.
Mother’s father; mother’s mother.
IX.
Mother’s brother; mother’s sister.
Explanation
: In this Schedule, references to a brother or sister do not include
references to a brother or sister by uterine blood.