A Short Treatise on Hindu Law; As Administered in the Courts of British India

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXI. On Exclusion From Inheritance. Causes of exclusion--Those which spring from a man's conduct--Those which spring from his condition--Effect of deprivation of caste--Regulation VII. of 1832--Act XXI. of 1850--Disability is personal, and is not transmitted. The Mitakshara and the Dayabhaga agree in excluding certain persons from all participation in the ancestral estate and from the right of succession by inheritance. In the former we find (a): "An impotent person, an outcast and his issue, one lame, a madman, an idiot, a blind man, and a person afflicted with an incurable disease, as well as others (similarly disqualified) must be maintained, excluding them, however, from participation." They are debarred from their shares if their disqualification arose before the division of the property, but one already separated from his co-heirs is not deprived of his allotment. And the latter treatise is to the same effect (6). Two causes of exclusion are here indicated: first, those which spring from a man's own conduct and lead to his expulsion from caste and consequent deprivation of his right of succession; and, secondly, those which are derived from a man's natural state or condition, disqualifying him for the performance of those spiritual acts which are to benefit the soul of the deceased. So far as offences have been expiated by penance and the degradation from caste removed, the impediment to succession (a) Mitakshara, Chap. II., s. 10, v. 1. (b) Dayabhaga, Chap. V., v. 11. is also removed. Rights of inheritance; however, are not permitted to be affected by deprivation of caste, Regulation 7 of 1832 (Bengal Code) and Act XXI. of 1850 having been passed to render inoperative any provision of Hindu law to that effect. It is therefore important to s...