THE HINDU CODE BILL: Codifying the Hindu Personal Law

Abstract
The draft of this bill was introduced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Parliament on 5 February
1951. The aim of this bill was to codify the foundations of Hindu Law which were scattered
in innumerable decisions of High Courts and therefore the council, which formed a
bewildering motley to the normal person and gave rise to constant litigation, seeking to
codify the law regarding seven different matters. This bill seeks to codify the law referring
to the rights of property of a deceased Hindu who had died intestate without making a will,
both female and male; prescribes a somewhat altered type of the order of succession
among the various heirs to the property of a deceased dying intestate and it also deals with
the law of maintenance, marriage, divorce, adoption, minority, and guardianship. On
introducing this bill within the parliament, it met great resistance and was not passed due
to the fierce opposition by many Hindu members. This research paper aims to elucidate this
bill and its various parts together by showing the arguments presented in favour and
opposition of this bill. Thus, highlighting the socio-political scenario of the time.

Literature Review
After India's independence, Jawaharlal Nehru entrusted his first Law Minister Dr. Ambedkar,
who belonged to the Scheduled Caste Federation, with the task of codifying the Hindu
personal law and creating a standardized civil code. Dr. Ambedkar formed a committee under
his leadership as chairperson. The other members were K Y Bhandarkar, GR Rajagopal of the
Ministry of Law and S. V Gupte of the Bombay Bar. This committee prepared the draft of the
bill. This bill aimed to codify the law referring to seven different matters. Firstly, it seeks to
codify the law referring to the rights of property of a deceased Hindu who has died intestate
without making a will, both female and male. Secondly, it prescribes a somewhat altered sort
of order of succession among the various heirs to the property of a deceased dying
intestate. the subsequent topic it deals with is that the law of maintenance, marriage, divorce,
adoption, minority and guardianship.

In thus far as inheritance is worried, the Hindus are governed by two different systems of law.
One system is understood as Mitakshara and also the other is thought as Dayabhaga. the
2 systems have fundamental difference. In the Mitakshara system, the property of a
Hindu isn't his individual property but it's the property which belongs to what's called a
coparcenary, which consists of Father, Son, Grandson and Great grandson. These people have
a birth right therein property and also the property on the death of anybody of the member of
this coparcenary passes by what's called survivorship to the members who remain behind,
and doesn't pass to the heirs of the deceased. The Hindu Code bill adopts the Dayabhaga
system, under which the property is held by the heir as his private property with an absolute
right to lose it either by gift or by will or the other manner that he chooses. This is one
fundamental change that this Bill seeks to create. In other words, it universalises the law of
inheritance by extending the Dayabhaga rule to the territory within which the rule of the
Mitakshara now operates.

Coming to the question of the order of succession among the heirs, there's also fundamental
difference of a general character between the rule of the Mitakshara and the rule of the
Dayabhaga. Under the Mitakshara rule the agnates of a deceased are preferred to his
cognates; under the Dayabhaga rule the premise of heirship is blood relationship to the
deceased and not the connection supported cognatic and agnatic relationship. this is often one
change that the Bill makes; in other words, here also it adopts the rule of the Dayabhaga in
preference to the rule of the Mitakshara. Additionally, to the current general change within
the order of succession to a deceased Hindu, the Bill also seeks to form four changes. One
change is that the widow, the daughter, the widow of a pre-deceased son, all are given the
identical rank because the son within the matter of inheritance. In addition to it, the
daughter is given a share in her father’s property; her share is prescribed as 1/2 that of the
son. The second change that the bill makes to this point, the feminine heirs are concerned is
that the number of female heirs recognized now could be much larger than under either the
Mitakshara or the Dayabhaga. The third change made by the bill is that under the old law,
whether the Mitakshara or the Dayabhaga, a discrimination was made among female
heirs, on whether a selected female was rich or poor in circumstances of the death of the
testator, whether she was married or unmarried, or whether she was with issue or without
issue. of these considerations which led to discrimination within the female heirs are now
abolished by the Bill. A girl has right to inherit gets it by reason of the actual fact that she is
said to be an heir regardless of the other consideration. The last change that's made is said to
the law of inheritance within the Dayabhaga. Under the Dayabhaga the father succeeds before
in preference to the mother, under this bill the position is altered in order that the mother
comes before the father.

Apart from this, changes were done in relation to the law governing Stridhana and inheritance
of estate by females. Overall, this bill was aimed at making structural reforms in legal
provisions to promote liberty, equality and fraternity among citizens of the newly
independent Republic of India.

In order to fulfil this aim, on 5 February 1951, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar introduced the bill to the
Parliament. But to his utter surprise, many Hindu members, including some who had
approved it in the cabinet earlier, now resisted it. Sardar Patel as the home minister and the
Deputy Prime Minister, Syama Prasad Mookerjee as the industry minister who belonged to
the Hindu Mahasabha, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, a tradionalist Congressman,
strongly opposed the bill. Pattabhi Sitaramayya, the Congress president, also opposed it,
particularly keeping in view its negative impacts on Hindu votes in the election of 1951-52.
Mookerjee said it would 'shatter the magnificent structure of Hindu culture and stultify a
dynamic and catholic way of life that had wonderfully adapted itself to the changes for
centuries'. Even women belonging to the Hindu Mahasabha came to the forefront to oppose
the bill. Already a year ago, in a long letter to President Rajendra Prasad, Janakibai Joshi, the
President of the All-India Hindu Women's Conference that belonged to the Hindu
Mahasabha, had written on 4 February 1950 that any move to replace the concept of Hindu
marriage as sacrament by making it contractual would destroy the entire family system of the
Hindus. "The Hindu family should be taken as a unit and fragmentation of the property
should not be allowed so as to go away to other family through daughter".

Dr. Ambedkar introduced this bill in the parliament on the promise from Jawaharlal Nehru
that the bill will be passed as it is. He basically prepared this bill to empower women by way
of giving property rights and giving rights in many other matters like marriage, adoption,
divorce etc. However, the orthodox Arya Brahmins who had the mindset of Manu Smriti did
not allow this bill to be passed in parliament as it is. This bill was so dear to Dr. Ambedkar
that he resigned from the Govt. in protest against the dropping of the bill. After his
resignation, the bill was passed in bits and pieces The property rights section was
immediately passed. This itself was a landmark in empowering women. The entire credit for
this goes to Dr. Ambedkar.

The other sections of the Hindu Code Bill were passed in the form of following acts-
  Hindu Marriage Act 1955
 Hindu Succession Act 1956
 Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956
 Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956

Research Questions

 What was the social significance of Hindu Code Bill in relation to Women’s struggle?

 Did the changes recommended under the Hindu Code Bill present an image of a new
India? A nation which has risen above its old draconian caste practices and worked
towards providing Economic and Social equality to the underprivileged groups?

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