THE HINDU MINORITY AND GUARDIANSHIP ACT, 1956
(32 of 1956)
[25th August, 1956]
2. Act to be
supplemental to Act 8 of 1890.
4. Definitions.
6. Natural
guardians of a Hindu minor.
7. Natural
guardianship of adopted son.
8. Powers of
natural guardian.
9. Testamentary
guardians and their powers.
10. Incapacity
of minor to act as a guardian of property.
11. De Facto
guardian not to deal with minor’s property.
12. Guardian
not to be appointed for minor’s undivided interest in joint family property.
13. Welfare of
minor to be paramount consideration.
THE HINDU MINORITY AND GUARDIANSHIP ACT, 1956
(32 of 1956)
An Act to amend and codify certain parts of
the law relating to minority and guardianship among Hindus, be it enacted by Parliament in the seventh year of the Republic of India
as follows:
(1)
This Act may be called the Hindu Minority and
Guardianship Act, 1956.
(2)
It extends to the whole of India except the
State of Jammu and Kashmir and applies also to Hindus domiciled in the
territories to which this Act extends who are outside the said territories.
2. Act to
be supplemental to Act 8 of 1890. -The provision of this Act shall be in addition
to, and not save as hereinafter expressly provided, in derogation of, the
Guardian and Wards Act, 1890.
(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 a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion, and
(c) To any
other person domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends 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, Jams,
or Sikhs by religion as the case may be:
(i) Any
child, legitimate or illegitimate, both of whose parents are Hindus, Buddhist,
Jams or Sikhs by religion;
(ii) Any
child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose parents is a Hindu, Buddhists,
Jain 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; and
(iii) Any
person who is a convert or re-convert to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain 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.
1[(2A)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), nothing contained in
this Act shall apply to Renoncants of the Union Territory of Pondicherry.]
(3) The
expression “Hindu” in any provision 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.
1. Ins.
by Act 26 of 1968.
4. Definitions.
-In this Act, -
(a) “Minor”
means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years;
(b) “Guardian” means a person having the care of
the person of a minor or of his property or of both his person and property,
and includes-
(i) A natural
guardian,
(ii) A
guardian appointed by the Will of the minor’s father or mother,
(iii) A
guardian appointed or declared by a Court, and
(iv) A person
empowered to act as such by or under any enactment relating to any Court of
Wards;
(c) “Natural guardian” means any of the
guardians mentioned in Section 6.
5. Over-riding
effect of Act. -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 contained in this Act.
(b) Any other law in force immediately before
the commencement of this Act shall cease to have effect in so far as it is
inconsistent with any of the provisions contained in this Act.
6. Natural
guardians of a Hindu minor. -The natural guardian of a Hindu minor, in respect of the minor’s person
as well as in respect of the minor’s property (excluding his or her undivided
interest in joint family property), are-
(a) In the
case of a boy or an unmarried girl-the father, and after him, the mother;
provided that the custody of a minor who has not completed the age of five
years shall ordinarily be with the mother;
(b) In case of
an illegitimate boy or an illegitimate unmarried girl-the mother, and after
her, the father;
(c) In the
case of a married girl-the husband:
Provided that no person shall be
entitled to act as the natural guardian of a minor under the provisions of this
section-
(a) If he has
ceased to be a Hindu, or
(b) If he has
completely and finally renounced the world by becoming a hermit (vanaprastha)
or an ascetic (yati or sanyasi).
Explanation. -In this section, the expression “further” and
“mother” do not include a step-father and a step-mother.
7. Natural guardianship of adopted son.-The
natural guardianship of an adopted son who is a minor passes, on adoption, to
the adoptive father and after him to die adoptive mother.
8. Powers
of natural guardian.-
(1) The
natural guardian, of a Hindu minor, has power, subject to the provisions of his
section, to do all acts which are necessary or reasonable and proper for the
benefit of the minor or for the realisation, protection or benefit of the
minor’s estate; but the guardian can in no case bind the minor by a personal
covenant.
(1)
The natural guardian shall not, without the previous
permission of the Court,-
(a) Mortgage
or charge, of transfer by sale, gift, exchange or otherwise, any part of the
immovable property of the minor; or
(b) Lease any
part of such property for a term exceeding five years or for a term extending more
than one year beyond the date on which the “nor will attain majority.
(2)
Any disposal of immovable property by a natural
guardian, in contravention of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), is voidable
at the instance of the minor or by any person claiming under him.
(3)
No Court shall grant permission to the natural
guardian to do any of the acts mentioned in sub-section (2) except in the case
of necessity or for an evident advantage to the minor.
(4)
The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, shall apply
to and in respect of an application for obtaining permission of the Court under
subsection (2) in all respects as if it were an application for obtaining the
permission of the Court under Section 29 of that Act, and in particular-
Proceedings in connection with the application shall be deemed to be
proceedings under that Act within the meaning of Section 4A thereof,
(a) The Court shall observe the procedure and
have the powers specified in sub-sections (2) and (3) and (4) of Section 31 of
the Act; and
(b) An appeal shall lie from an order of the
Court refusing permission to natural guardian to do any of the acts mentioned
in subsection (2) of this section to the Court to which appeals ordinarily lie
from the decisions of that Court.
(6) In this
section “court” means the city civil court or a district court or a court empowered under section 4A of the
Guardian and Wards Act, 1890, within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the
immovable property in respect of which the application is made is situate, and
where the immovable property is situate within the jurisdiction of more than
one such court, means the Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction
any portion of the property is situate.
9. Testamentary guardians and their powers.
–
(1) A Hindu
father entitled to act as the natural guardian of his minor legitimate
children, may, by will, appoint a guardian for any of them in respect of the
minor’s person or in respect of the minor’s property (other than the undivided
interest referred in Section 12) or in respect of both.
(2) An
appointment made under sub-section (1) shall have no effect if the father
predeceases the mother, but shall revive if the mother dies without appointing
by All.
(3) A
Hindu widow entitled to act as the natural guardian of her minor legitimate
children, and a Hindu mother entitled to act as the natural guardian of her
minor legitimate children by reason of
the fact that the father has become disentitled to act as such may by will,
appoint a guardian for any of them in respect of the minor’s person or in
respect of the minor’s property (other than the undivided interest referred to
in Section 12) or in respect of both.
(4) A
Hindu mother entitled to act as the natural guardian of her minor legitimate
children may, by will, appoint a guardian for any of them in respect of the
minor’s person or in respect of the minor’s property or in respect of both.
(5) The
guardian so appointed by will has the right to act as the minor’s guardian
after the death of the minor’s father or mother, as the case may be, and to
exercise all the rights of a natural guardian under this Act to such extent and
to such restrictions. if any, as are specified in this Act and in the will.
(6) The
right of the guardians so appointed by will shall, where the minor is a girl,
cease on her marriage.
10. Incapacity of minor to act as guardian of property. -A
minor shall be incompetent to act as guardian of the property of any minor.
11. De facto guardian not to deal with minor’s property. -After the commencement of this Act, no person
shall be entitled to dispose of, or deal with, the property of a Hindu minor
merely on the ground of his or her being the de facto guardian of the minor.
12. Guardian not to be appointed for minor’s undivided interest in
joint family property. -Where a minor has an undivided interest in joint family property and the
property is under the management of an adult member of the family, no guardian
shall be, appointed for the minor in respect of such undivided interest:
Provided that nothing in this
section shall be deemed to affect the jurisdiction of a High Court to appoint a
guardian in respect of such interest.
13. Welfare of minor to be paramount consideration. –
(1) In
the appointment or declaration of any person as guardian of a Hindu minors by a
Court, the welfare of the minor shall
be the paramount consideration
(2) No person shall be entitled to the
guardianship by virtue of the provisions of this Act or of any law relating to
guardianship in marriage among Hindus, if the Court is of opinion that his or
her guardianship will not be for the welfare of the minor.
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