The Hindu Code Bill – An attempt to Re-Form Hindu Personal Laws

Introduction

The Hindu Code Bill was produced and presented to the Indian Parliament in 1948 especially for the purpose of reforming and putting into code the Hindu personal laws. Hindu laws of succession, marriage and divorce etc were codified, as has been mentioned, from texts and traditional practices and were considered uncongenial to women and feudal. This it did seeking to alter these laws to offer additional equality and rights particularly to Hindu women.

Key Provisions of the Bill

Some of the major provisions of the Hindu Code Bill were:

/eliminating polygamy and bringing monogamy in between Hindus
This given option indicates that one can get a divorce only in specific instances.
Forbidding discrimination between sons and daughters when it came to distribution of joint family property which allowed sons equal rights but denied the same to daughters
Stripping the status of legal invalids from the children born out of wedlock
coming up with a policy that states that girls should be above 16 years and boy should be above 18 years to get a marriage approval

The marriage, succession, adoption, maintenance and guardianship were covered through several chapters and provisions of the bill. It attempted to lay the policies of parallelism in gender within these personal law issues.

Opposition and Controversies

The bill emerged to strong reactions from the conservative political leaders alongside Hindu right organizations who felt that bill was counter to Hindu scriptures, law, and practices. Despite attempts at attempts at trying to link the bill with pseudo-science and scientific irrationality, there other critics of the bill being described it as radical and anti-Hindu. This make many groups or communities to engage in heated debates and controversies.

There were also concerns that touched on the rights of this lower castes in relation to inheritance. Some issues of divorce as well as the rights of inheritance were also against. This put pressure to amend the bill which has had many changes made to it.

Final Passage and Amendments

The bill was split into four distinctive bills from which were passed between 1955-56. These were the:

– Hindu Marriage Act
– Hindu Succession Act
and Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act
The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act

All of these bills contained some of the proposals contained in the original Hindu Code Bill. While these act did not lead to the extent of codification that was first expected of it, it did usher new reforms in Hindu personal laws particularly in the areas of marriage, inheritance and adoption. There have also have been changes through additions made to the law in later years.

Conclusion

Though the Hindu Code bill met a number of controversies and opposition that led to its bifurcation and emasculation resulting in several benches of laws enacted by it triggered important legal and social changes concerning spousal rights of Hindu women and their successions. They introduced elements of legal parity to the legal arena of Hindu personal law.

The approach here is to highlight the technical aspects – provisions, passage or amendments etc, but occasionally you will see some context/impact described in non partisan language. If I missed something or you’d like to add another of any of these areas, then now would be a good time.