Kerala act 030 of 1976 : The Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975 (No.30 of 1976)

155'

THE KERALA

JOINT

HINDU FAMILY SYSTEM

(ABOLITION) ^{ACT, 1975}

(Act ^30of

1976)

CONTENTS

Preamble. Sections

1.

Short

tltle,

extent and commencement Defimtlon

—

Bll'th ¹ⁿ

famlly

not to

glve

use

to

rlghts

1n

property Jomt

tenancy

to be

replaced

by tenancy

1n

common Rule

of [3101.18

obllgatxon

of Hmdu son

abrogated Llabxhty ^of

members^{ofJomt Hmdu}

famlly ^fordebts contracted before Act not

affected

7.

Repeal The

schedule

GUIQOON

THE KERALA JOINT HINDU

FAMILY SYSTEM

(ABOLITION) ^ACT,

1975* (Act ^{30 of}

1976)

An ^Actto abolish the

Joint family system among Hindus ⁱⁿ

the State^of

Kerala Preamble —WHEREAS

1t 13

expedlent

to abollsh the

Jomt family system

among Hindus ^{1n the}State^of

Kerala, BE 1t

enacted in the

Twenty-stxth

Year

of

the

Repubhc of

Iudla as

follows ^——

1

Short

title,

extent

and

commencement—(1)

Thxs Act may be

called

the

Kerala Jomt Hlndu

Famlly System (Abolltlon) Act, ¹⁹⁷⁵

*Recclvcd the assent^of

the Presdent ^on

the ^10th

August ^1976and pubhshed ^mthe

Kerala

Gazette

Extraordmary ^{No 484,}

dated^17th August,

1976.

156

(2) ^Itextends^{to the}

whole ^{of the}

State ^ofKerala.

(3) ^It

shall^{come 1nto}force^{on suchdateasthe}Govern- ment

may, by

notlfication

1n the

Gazette, appomt,

2

Definition—In thrs

Act,

"Jomt

Hindu

Fanuly"

means any Hmdu

family

w1th

commumty ⁰¹

property

and 111clude=.——

(1) ^a

tarwad ^orthavaa

governed

by ^the

Madlas Marumakkathayam ^Act,

1932, ^theTravancorc

Nayar ^{Act, II} of

1100,

the Travancore Ezhava

Act,

III

of

1100, ^the

NanJmad Vellala Act of

1101,

the Travancore

Kshatriya

Act ^of

1108, ^the Travancore

Knshnanvaka

Marumakkathayee

Act,

VII ^of

1115,

the Cochm

Nayar

Act,

XXIX 01

1113,

or the Cochln

Maru- makkathayam ^Act,

XXXIII^of

1113,

(2) ^akutumba^orkavaru

governed

by ^theMadras Ahyasanthana ^Act,1949,

(3) ^anlllom

governed by ^the

Kerala Nambudn'i

Act, 1958, ^and '

(4) ^anund1v1ded

Hlndu

family

governed

by ^theMita- kshara law. .

3 Birth in

family ^not

to

give ^riseto

rights

in

property.— On and after the commencement^oith1s

Act, ^no

right ^toclann any

interest ¹ⁿ

any property

of^anancestor

durmg

his^orher l1fet1me ^WthhlS

founded ^{onthemerefactthat the}

clalmant was born 1n the

family

of

the ancestor shall be

recogmsed ¹ⁿ

any court. \

4 Joint

tenancy

to be

replaced by tenancy

in

common—-

(1) ^All

members ^ofanund1v1ded

Hindu

Family

governed

by ^the M1takshara ^law

holding any coparcenary property ^onthe

day th1s Act comes 1n't0

force

shall, ^With

effect ^fromthat

day, ^be deemed ^{tohold 1tas}

tenants—in—common ^asIfa

partition ^had taken

place

among^allthemembers^of

that

undiVIded

Hlndu family ^as

respects ^such

property ^{andasifeach one ofthemL)} holding ^{his or her}share

separately ^aslullowner

thereof Prov1ded that

nothing ¹ⁿ

thls

sub—sectlon shall afi'ect

the right ^to

mamtenance^orthe

right ^to

marriage ^or

funeral expenses ^outof

the copalcenary

property ^or

the

right ^to resrdence, ¹¹any.^ofthe

members^{of an}

und1v1ded Hindu

family, other ^thanpersons^who

have become

entltled to hold

their ~¢.

4.0...."

_

.-

\

157\ shares separately,

and any such

rrght

can be

enforced as if this Act had not been

passed

(2) ^Allmembers^ofaJomtHlndu

Famlly,

other^{than an} undwrded Hmdu

famlly

referred

to

m

sub-sectlon

(1), holdmg any 101m

famtly property ^onthe

day

thlS ^Actcomes^Into

force, shall, ^wrth

effect ^fromthat

day ^bedeemed ^{to hold1t as}tenants- 1n~common, ^{as Ifa}

partrtron ^of

such

property

per capzta ^had taken

place

among all

the

members

of the

famrly

hvmg

on the day

aforesald,

whether^suchmembers ^were

entrtled ^toclarm such\partrt10n ^ornotunder^{the law}

apphcable ^to

them, ^and as 1f

each

one of the members rs

holding

hrs or her share separately ^asfull

owner

thereot

5 Rule of prous

obhgahon

of

Hindu son

abrogated.—

(1)

After^thecommencement^ofthrs

Act, ^nocourt

shall, ^save as

provrded

m sub-sectron

(2), recognlse any rrght

to

proceed agamst ^a

son, grandson ^or

great-grandson ^forthe

recovery^of any debt due from

hls

father,

grandfather ^or

great-grandfather or

any ahenatlon

of

property

1n

respect

of

or

In satlsfaction

of any such debt^onthe

ground

of the prous obhgatmn

under

the Hrndu

law,

of the son,

grandson

or

great-grandson

to

drscharge any such debt.

(2) ^Inthecaseofany^debtcontracted

before ^thecom— mencement of thrs

Act,

nothmg

contamed ¹ⁿ

sub-sectron

(1)

Shall affect——

(a) ^the

rrght ^of

any credrtor ^to

proceed agamst ^the son, grandson ^or

great-grandson, ^asthe ^case

may be, ^or

(b) any ahenatron^made1n

respect^{of, or m}

satrsfaction of, any^such

debt, and any such

rrght

or

ahenatron shall

be enforceable under ^the rule of plous obhgatron

1n the same manner

and ^tothe same extent as It would have been enforceable

1f thrs Act

had

not been

passed Explanation—For ^thepurposes^ofsub-sectron ^{(2), the} expressron "son"

"grandson", ^or

"great—grandson"

shall

be deemed to refer ^to

the son,

grandson ^or

great—grandson, ^asthe case

158

6.

Liability

of Members

of Joint Hindu

Family

for debts contracted

before

'Act not

aflected.—Where

a

debt

bmdmg

on a Jomt Hmdu

Famxly

has been contracted before the

commence- ment

of

thlS Act

by

the

Karanavan, Yejman, Manager

or Kartha, ^asthecase

may be, ^ofthe

Iamlly,

nothing

herem ^con- tained shall affect the

llablhty

of any member of the

famlly ^to dlscharge any^suchdebtandany^such

liabllity

may^beenforced against ^allor

any^ofthemembers hable therefor ^{1n the same} manner

and to the same extent as 1t would

have

been emorce- able if thls ^Act

had ^not

been

passed

7.

Repeal —(1)

Save as otherw15e

expressly prov1ded

m thrs

Act, any text,

rule or

interpretatlon

of

Hindu

Law ^or

any custom or

usage

as

part

of that

law¹ⁿ

force

Immediately

before the commencement of th1s

Act

shall cease to have

effect w1th respect ^to

any matter^forWthh

provrsion ^{ismade m thls Act.}

(2) ^{The Acts}mentioned ^1nthe

Schedule, ^1nsofaras they apply ^tothewhole ^{or anypart ofthe}State ^of

Kerala, are

hereby repealed.

THE SCHEDULE

[See

sectlon ⁷

(2)]

Acts

repealed

(1) ^TheMadras

Marumakkathayam Act, ¹⁹³²

(XXII

of

1933),

(2) ^The

Madras

Alxyasanthana ^Act1949

(IX ^of

1949),

(3) ^The

Travancore

Nayar

Act, ^IIof

1100,

(4) ^TheTravancore Ezhava

Act, ^IIIof

1100,

(5) ^The

NanJmad

Vellala^Actof1101

(VI ^of

1101),

(6) ^The

Travancore

Kshatrlya ^{Actof 1108 (VII of}

1108),

(7) ^TheTravancore Krlshnanvaka

Marumakkathayee Act, ^{VII of}

1115,

(8) ^The

Cochm

Th1yya Act, ^VIIIof

1107,

(9) ^The

Cochm

Makkathayam Thlyya

Act, ^XVIIof1115,

(10) ^TheCochm

Nayar

Act, ^{XXIX of}

1113,

(11) ^TheCochm

Marumakkathayam

Act,

XXXIII^of

1113,

(12) ^The

Kerala Nambudm ^{Act, 1958}

(27 ^of

1958)

"t