Updated: Monday July 15, 2013/AlEthnien
Ramadan 08, 1434/Somavara
Asadha 24, 1935, at 06:48:02 PM
The Hindu Widows'
Re-Marriage Act, 1856
(Short title given by
the Short Titles Act, 1897 (14 of 1897)
This Act has been declared to be in force in all the Provinces and the Capital
of the Federation, except the Scheduled Districts, by the Laws Local Extent
Act, 1874 (15 of 1874), s. 3.
It has been declared, by notification under s. 3(a) of the Scheduled Districts
Act, 1874 (14 of 1874), to be in force in the following Scheduled Districts,
namely,---
The District of Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi
Khan [Portions of the Districts of Hazara, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera
Ghazi Khan and the Districts of Peshawar and Kohat now form the N.W.F.P., see
Gazette of India, 1901, pt. I, p. 857, and ibid., 1902, Pt. I, p. 575; but its
application to that part of the Hazara District known as Upper Tanawal has been
barred by the Hazara (Upper Tanawal) Regulation, 1900 (2 of 1900)1-See Gazette
of India, 1886, Pt. I, p. 48.
The District of Sylhet
See Gazette of
ACT No. XV of 1856
[25th July, 1856]
An Act to remove all legal obstacles to the marriage of Hindu Widows
Preamble WHEREAS it is known that, by the law as administered in the
Civil Courts established in the territories in the possession and under the
Government of the East India Company, Hindu widows with certain exceptions are
held to be, by reason of their having been once married, incapable of
contracting a second valid marriage, and the offspring of such widows by any
second marriage are held to be illegitimate and incapable of inheriting
property;
AND WHEREAS many Hindus believe that this imputed legal incapacity, although it
is in accordance with established custom, is not in accordance with a true
interpretation of the precepts of their religion, and desire that the civil law
administered by the Courts of Justice shall no longer prevent those Hindus who
may be so minded from adopting a different custom, in accordance with the
dictates of their own conscience;
AND WHEREAS it is just to relieve all such Hindus from this legal incapacity of
which they complain, and the removal of all legal obstacles to the marriage of
Hindu widows will tend to the promotion of good morals and to the public
welfare ; It is enacted as follows:---
1. Marriage of Hindu widows legalized. No marriage contracted between
Hindus shall be invalid and the issue of no such marriage shall be
illegitimate, by reason of the woman having been previously married or
betrothed to another person who was dead at the time of such marriage, any
custom and any interpretation of Hindu law to the contrary not withstanding.
2. Rights of widow in deceased husband’s
property to cease on her re-marriage. All rights and interests which any widow may
have in her deceased husband's property by way of maintenance, or by in
heritance to her husband or to his lineal successors, or by virtue of any will
or testamentary disposition conferring upon her, without express permission to
re-marry, only a limited interest in such property, with no power of alienating
the same, shall upon her re-marriage cease and determine as if she had then
died ; and the next heirs of her deceased husband, or other persons entitled to
the property on her death, shall thereupon succeed to the same.
3. Guardianship of children of deceased husband on the re-marriage of his
widow. On the re-marriage of a Hindu widow, if neither the widow nor any
other person has been expressly constituted by the will or testamentary
disposition of the deceased husband the guardian of his children the father or
paternal grandfather or the mother or paternal grandmother, of the deceased
husband, or any male relative of the deceased husband, may petition the highest
Court having original jurisdiction in civil cases in the place deceased husband
was domiciled at the time appointment of some proper person said children, and
thereupon it shall be said Court, if it shall think fit, to appoint such
guardian be entitled to 'have the care and of any of them during their
minority, in and in making such appointment the Court shall be guided, so far
as may be by the laws and rules in force touching the guardianship of children
who have neither father nor mother:---
Provided that, when the said children have not property of their own sufficient
for their support and proper education whilst minors, no such appointment shall
be made otherwise than with she consent of the mother unless the proposed
guardian shall have given security for the support and proper education of the
children whilst minors.
4. Nothing in this Act to render any childless widow capable of inheriting.
Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to render any widow who, at
the time of the death of any person leaving any property, is a childless widow,
capable of inheriting the whole or any share of such property if before the
passing of this Act, she would have been incapable of inheriting the same by
reason of her being a childless widow.
5. Saving of rights of widow marrying except as provided in sections 2 to 4.
Except as in the three preceding sections is provided, a widow shall not, by
reason of her re-marriage forfeit any property or any right to which she would
otherwise be entitled ; and every widow who has re-married shall have the same
rights of inheritance as she would have had, had such marriage been her first
marriage.
6. Ceremonies constituting valid marriage to have same effect on widow’s
marriage. Whatever words spoken, ceremonies performed or engagements made
on the marriage of a Hindu female who has not beer previously married, are
sufficient to constitute a valid marriage, shall have the same effect if
spoken, performed or made on the marriage of a Hindu widow; and no marriage
shall be declared invalid on the ground that such words, ceremonies or
engagement are inapplicable to the case of a widow.
7. Consent to re-marriage of minor widow. If the widow re-marrying is a
minor whose marriage has not been consummated, she shall not re-marry without
the consent of her father, or if she has no father, of her paternal
grandfather, or if she has no such grandfather, of her mother, or, failing all
these, of her elder brother, or failing also brothers, of her next male
relative.
Punishment for abetting marriage made contrary to this section. All
persons knowingly abetting a marriage made contrary to the provisions of this
section shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding one year or
to fine or to both.
Effect of such marriage Proviso And all marriages made contrary to the
provisions of this section may be declared void by a Court of law: Provided,
that in any question regarding the validity of a marriage made contrary to the
provisions of this section, such consent as is aforesaid shall be presumed
until the contrary is proved, and that no such marriage shall be declared void
after it has been consummated.
Consent to re-marriage of major widow. In the case of a widow who is of
full age, or whose marriage bas been consummated, her own consent shall be
sufficient consent to constitute her re-marriage lawful and valid.
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