An introduction to Hindu law

 Hindu Law

 

Today I am going to discuss on Hindu law. Hindu law is the most dynamic personal legal system of the world. Who is Hindu according to Hindu law?. The supreme Court  in Perumal  V. Ponnuswami observed that  a person whose parents are by birth Hindu or a person who is not identified by any other religion like Muslim, Christian or the person who practices or professes Hindu  custom.

Person to whom Hindu law applies:

·       Hindus by birth, and also to Hindus by religion .

·       Illegitimate children where both parents are Hindus.

·       Illegitimate children  where  the father is Christian and mother a Hindu , and the children are brought up as Hindus.

·       Jain, Buddhist in India ,Sikhs and Nambudri Brahamans except so for such law is varied  by custom and to Lingayatas who are considered as shudras.

·       Sons of Hindu dancing girls  of the Naik caste converted Mohameddanism where the sons are taken into the family of the family of the Hindu grand parents and are brought up as a Hindu.

·       Hindu who made declaration that they were not Hindus for the purpose special marriage Act,1872 ; and

·       A person who is a born in Hindu religion , does not cease to be a hindu merely because he departs from  the standard of orthodoxy in matters of diet and ceremonies observation .   

Person to whom Hindu law does not apply:

·       To the illegitimate kids of a Hindu father by a Christian mother and who are observed as Christians or to illegitimate kids of Hindus father by a Mohammedan mother. As these are  not seem to be Hindus either by birth or by faith.

·       To the Hindu converts to Christianity .Successions to the estate of Hindu convert to a Christianity who dies a Christian intestate is ruled by the Indian succession Act,1956.

·       To convert from Hindu to Mohammedan faith

·       To descendants of Hindus who have  formed themselves into a distinct community or sect with a with a particular religion and usages so different from the principal of shastras that community cannot but be regarded  as being out side of Hinduism in the proper meaning of the words.