Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated June 20, 1956: Hindu Succession Bill

The Hindu Succession Bill has received the assent of the President. The enactment of the Bill thus completes the most important part of the Hindu Code suggested by the Rau Committee in 1947. The first instalment was the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, dealing with the law relating to marriage and divorce among the Hindus. The Hindu Succession Act is intended to evolve a fairly uniform system of law in the entire country with respect to intestate succession. The list of heirs has been rationalised and can be said to be based on the love and affection theory. There are several notable features in this Act which make it a landmark in the social history of India. The Act will apply to all Hindus - a term which is defined to include all persons not professing the Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jewish faiths. The biggest change made by the Act is that women are made eligible to inherit and hold property in the same way as men. In the past, even where women inherited some property they had only limited rights over it, as for example, they could not sell it away except in certain circumstances and they could use it only in their life time. The present Act has removed these disabilities. The Act has, for the first time, provided a share in the father's property to the daughter also, both in self-acquired and ancestral property.

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