THE HINDU ADOPTIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACT, 1956
ACT NO. 78 OF 1956
[21st December, 1956.]
An Act to amend and codify the law relating to adoptions and maintenance among Hindus.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventh Year of the
Republic of India as follows:-
CHAP PRELIMINARY
CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY
1. Short title and extent.
1.(1)Short title and extent. This Act may be called the Hindu
Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu
and Kashmir.
2. Application of Act.
2.(1)Application of Act. 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, Jaina or Sikh by
religion, and
(c) to any other person 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, Jainas
or Sikhs by religion, as the case may be:-
(a) any child, legitimate or illegitimate, both of whose
parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas or Sikhs by religion;
(b) any child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose
parents is a Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion and
who is brought up as a member of the tribe, community,
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1 The Act has been extended by Dadra and Nagar Haveli by Reg. 6 of
1963, s. 2 and Sch. 1.
2 Amn. in Uttar Pradesh by U.P. Act 57 of 1976.
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group or family to which such parent belongs or
belonged; 1* * *
2[(bb) any child, legitimate or illegitimate, who has
been abandoned both by his father and mother or whose
parentage is not known and who in either case is brought up
as a Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh; and]
(c) any person who is a convert or re-convert to the Hindu,
Buddhist, Jaina 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. 3
(3) The expression "Hindu" in any portion 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.
3. Over-riding effect of Act.
3.Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires-
(a) the expressions "custom" and "usage" signify any rule
which, having been continuously and uniformly observed for a
long time, has obtained the force of law among Hindus in any
local area, tribe, community, group or family:
Provided that the rule is certain and not unreasonable or opposed
to public policy: and
Provided further that, in the case of a rule applicable only to
a family, it has not been discontinued by the family;
(b) "maintenance" includes-
(i) in all cases, provision for food, clothing,
residence, education and medical attendance and
treatment ;
(ii) in the case of an unmarried daughter, also 'the
reasonable expenses of and incident to her marriage;
(c) "minor" means a person who has not completed his or her
age of eighteen years.
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1 The word " and " omitted by Act 45 of 1962, S. 2.
2 Ins. by S. 2, ibid.
3 In its application to Pondicherry, in section 2, after sub-
section (2), following shall be inserted-
"(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1),
nothing cotained in this Act shall apply to the Renoncants of
the Union territory of Pondicherry."-(Vide Act 26 of 1968).
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193
4.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 is made
in this Act;
(b) any other law in force immediately before the
commencement of this Act shall cease to apply to Hindus in so
far as it is inconsistent with any of the provisions
contained in this Act.
CHAP
ADOPTION
CHAPTER II
ADOPTION
5.
Adoptions to be regulated by this Chapter.
5.Adoptions to be regulated by this Chapter. (1)No adoption shall
be made after the commencement of this Act by or to a Hindu except in
accordance with the provisions contained in this Chapter, and any
adoption made in contravention of the said provisions shall be void.
(2) An adoption which is void shall neither create any rights in
the adoptive family in favour of any person which he or she could not
have acquired except by reason of the adoption, nor destroy the rights
of any person in the family of his or her birth.
6.
Requites of a valid adoption.
6.Requites of a valid adoption. No adoption shall be valid
unless--
(i) the person adopting has the capacity, and also the
right, to take in adoption;
(ii) the person giving in adoption has the capacity to do
so;
(iii) the person adopted is capable of being taken in
adoption; and
(iv) the adoption is made in compliance with the other
conditions mentioned in this Chapter.
7.
Capacity of a male Hindu to take in adoption.
7.Capacity of a male Hindu to take in adoption. Any male Hindu
who is of sound mind and is not a minor has the capacity to takes on
or a daughter in adoption:
Provided that, if he has a wife living, he shall not adopt except
with the consent of his wife unless the wife has completely and
finally renounced the word or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been
declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.
Explanation.-If a person has more than one wife living at the
time of adoption, the consent of all the wives is necessary unless the
194
consent of any one of them is unnecessary for any of the reasons
specified in the preceding proviso.
8.
Capacity of a female Hindu to take adoption.
8.Capacity of a female Hindu to take in adoption. Any female Hindu
(a)who is of sound-mind,
(b) who is not a minor, and
(c) who is not married, or if married, whose marriage has
been dissolved or whose husband is dead or has completely and
finally renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or
has been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be
of unsound mind,
has the capacity to take a son or daughter in adoption.
9.
Persons capable of giving in adoptions.
9.Persons capable of giving in adoptions. (1)No person except the
father or mother or the guardian of a child shall have the capacity
to give the child in adoption.
(2) Subject to the provisions of 1[sub-section (3) and sub-
section (4)], the father, if alive, shall alone have the right to give
in adoption, but such right shall not be exercised save with the
consent of the mother unless the mother has completely and finally
renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been declared
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.
(3) The mother may give the child in adoption if the father is
dead or has completely and finally renounced the world or has ceased
to be a Hindu or has been declared by a court of competent juris-
diction to be of unsound mind.
2[(4) Where both the father and mother are dead or have com-
pletely and finally renounced the world or have abandoned the child or
have been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of
unsound mind or where the parentage of the child is not known, the
guardian of the child may give the child in adoption with the previous
permission of the court to any person including the guardian himself.]
(5) Before granting, permission to a guardian under sub-section
(4), the court shall be satisfied that the adoption will be for the
welfare of the child, due consideration being for this purpose given
to the wishes of the child having regard to the age and understanding
of the child and that the applicant for permission has not received Or
agreed to receive and that no person has made or given or agreed
1. Subs. by Act 45 of 1962, s. 3, for " sub-section (3)".
2. Subs. by s. 3, ibid, for sub-section (4).
195
to make or give to the applicant any payment or reward in considera-
tion of the adoption except such as the court may sanction.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section-
(i) the expressions "father" and "mother" do not include an
adoptive father and an adoptive mother; 1* * *
2[(ia) "guardian" means a person having the care of the
person of a child or of both his person and property and
includes-
(a) a guardian appointed by the will of the child's
father or mother, and
(b) a guardian appointed or declared by a court; and]
(ii) " court " means the city civil court or a district
court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the child
to be adopted ordinarily resides.
10.
Persons who may be adopted.
10.Persons who may be adopted. No person shall be capable of
being taken in adoption unless the following conditions are
fulfilled, namely:-
(i) he or she is a Hindu;
(ii) he or she has not already been adopted;
(iii) he or she has not been married, unless there is a
custom or usage applicable to the parties which permits
persons who are married being taken in adoption;
(iv) he or she has not completed the age of fifteen years,
unless there is a custom or usage applicable to the parties
which permits persons who have completed the age of fifteen
years being taken in adoption.
11.
Other conditions for a valid adoption.
11.Other conditions for a valid adoption. In every adoption, the
following conditions must be complied with:-
(i) if the adoption is of a son, the adoptive father or
mother by whom the adoption is made must not have a Hindu
son. son's son or son's son's son (whether by legitimate
blood relationship or by adoption) living at the time of
adoption ;
(ii) if the adoption is of a daughter, the adoptive father
or mother by whom the adoption is made must, not have a
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1 The word " and" omitted by Act 45 of 1962, s.3.
2 Ins. by s. 3, ibid.
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196
Hindu daughter or son's daughter (whether by legitimate
blood relationship or by adoption) living at the time of
adoption;
(iii) if the adoption is. by a male and the person to be
adopted is a female, the adoptive father is at least twenty-
one years older than the person to be adopted ;
(iv) if the adoption is by a female and the person to be
adopted is a male, the adoptive mother is at least twenty-one
years older than the person to be adopted ; (v) the same
child may not be adopted simultaneously by two or more
persons;
(vi) the child to be adopted must be actually given and
taken in adoption by the parents or guardian concerned or
under their authority with intent to transfer the child from
the family of its birth 1 [or in the case of an abandoned
child or a child whose parentage is not known, from the place
or family where it has been brought up] to the family of its
adoption:
Provided that the performance of datta homam shall not be
essential to the validity of an adoption.
12
Effects of adoption.
12.Effects of adoption. An adopted child shall be deemed to be
the child of his or her adoptive father or mother for all purposes
with effect from the date of the adoption and from such date all the
ties of the child in the family of his or her birth shall be deemed to
be severed and replaced by those created by the adoption in the
adoptive family:
Provided that-
(a) the child cannot marry any person whom he or she could
not have married if he or she had continued in the family of
his or her birth;
(b) any property which vested in the adopted child before
the adoption shall continue to vest in such person subject to
the obligations, if any, attaching to the ownership of such
property, including the obligation to maintain relatives in
the family of his or her birth ;
(c) the adopted child shall not divest any person of any
estate which vested in him or her before the adoption.
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1 Ins. by Act 45 of 1962, s. 4.
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196A
13.
Right of adoptive parents to dispose of their properties.
13.Right of adoptive parents to dispose of their properties.
Subject to any agreement to the contrary, an adoption does not deprive
the adoptive father or mother of the power to dispose of his or her
property by transfer inter vivos or by will..
14.
Determination of adoptive mother in certain cases. 14.Determination of
adoptive mother in certain cases. (1)Where aHindu who has a wife living
adopts a child, she shall be deemed to bethe adopti
15.
Valid adoption not to be cancelled.
15.Valid adoption not to be cancelled. No adoption which has
been validly made can be cancelled by the adoptive father or mother or
any other person, nor can the adopted child renounce his or her status
as such and return to the family of his or her birth.
16.
Presumption as to registered documents relating to adoptions.
16.Presumption as to registered documents relating to adoptions.
Whenever any document registered under any law for the time being in
force is produced before any court purporting to record an adoption
made and is signed by the person giving and the person taking the
child in adoption, the court shall presume that the adoption has been
made in compliance with the provisions of this Act unless and until it
is disproved,
197
17.
Prohibition of certain payments.
17.Prohibition of certain payments. (1)No person shall receive or
agree to receive any payment or other reward in consideration of the
adoption of any person, and no person shall make or give or agree to
make or give to any other person any payment or reward the receipt of
which is prohibited by this section.
(2) If any person contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1),
he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six
months, or with fine, or with both.
(3) No prosecution under this section shall be instituted
without the previous sanction of the State Government or an officer
authorised by the State Government in this behalf.
CHAP
MAINTENANCE
CHAPTER III
MAINTENANCE
18.
Maintenance of wife.
18.Maintenance of wife. (1)Subject to the provisions of this
section, a Hindu wife, whether married before or after the
commencement of this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her
husband during her life time.
(2) A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her
husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance,-
(a) if he is guilty of desertion, that is to say, of
abandoning her without reasonable cause and without her
consent or against her wish, or of wilfully neglecting her ;
(b) if he has treated her with such cruelty as to cause a
reasonable apprehension in her mind that it will be harmful
or injurious to live with her husband;
(c) if he is suffering from a virulent form of leprosy;
(d) if he has any other wife living ;
(e) if he keeps a concubine in the same house in which his
wife is living or habitually resides with a concubine else-
where ;
(f) if he has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another
religion ;
(g) if there is any other cause justifying her living
separately,
(3) A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and
maintenance from her husband if she is unchaste or ceases to be a
Hindu by conversion to another religion.
198
19.
Maintenance of widowed daughter-in-law.
19. Maintenance of widowed daughter-in-law. (1) A Hindu wife,
whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be
entitled to be maintained after the death of her husband by her
father-in-law:
Provided and to the extent that she is unable to maintain
herself out of her own earnings or other property or, where she has no
property of her own, is unable to obtain maintenance-
(a) from the estate of her husband or her father or mother,
or
(b) from her son or daughter, if any, or his or her estate.
(2) Any obligation under sub-section (1) shall not be
enforceable if the father-in-law has not the means to do so from any
coparcenary property in his possession out of which the daughter-in-
law has not obtained any share, and any such obligation shall cease on
the remarriage of the daughter-in-law.
20.
Maintenance of children and aged parents.
20.Maintenance of children and aged parents. (1)Subject to the
provisions of this section a Hindu is bound, during his or her life-
time, to maintain his or her legitimate or illegitimate children and
his or her aged or infirm parents.
(2) A legitimate or illegitimate child may claim maintenance
from his or her father or mother so long as the child is a minor.
(3) The obligation of a person to maintain his or her aged or
infirm parent or a daughter who is unmarried extends in so far as the
parent or the unmarried daughter, as the case may be, is unable to
maintain himself or herself out of his or her own earnings or other
property.
Explanation.-In this section "parent " includes a childless step-
mother.
21.
Dependants defined.
21.Dependants defined. For the purposes of this Chapter
"dependents" mean the following relatives of the deceased:-
(i) his or her father ;
(ii) his or her mother;
(iii) his widow, so long as she does not re-marry;
(iv) his or her son or the son of his pre-deceased son or
the son of a pre-deceased son of his pre-deceased son, so
long, as he is a minor: provided and-to the extent that he is
unable to obtain maintenance, in the case of a grandson from
his father's or mother's estate, and in the case of a
199
great-grandson, from the estate of his father or mother or
father's father or father's mother ;
(v) his or her unmarried daughter, or the unmarried
daughter of his pre-deceased son or the unmarried daughter of
a pre-deceased son, of his pre-deceased son, so long as she
remains unmarried: provided and to the extent that she is
unable to obtain maintenance, in the case of a granddaughter
from her father's or mother's estate and in the case of a
great-grand-daughter from the estate of her father or mother
or father's father or father's mother ;
(vi) his widowed daughter: provided and to the extent that
she is unable to obtain maintenance-
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