Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c8.113

c8.113

Mutual suretyship of family members is still found in the South according to Steele, but the creditor in such cases holds the head of the family specially responsible for the debt¹; now however by English legislation the responsibility of the heir for the debts of the testator has been restricted to the amount of the wealth inherited by him. About modern bonds of debt see § 35. Among pledges different kinds of usable pledges are seen even at the present day for which the ancient designation Bhogyādhi is still in vogue in Kanara. The pledgee has still to compensate for the pledged property if it is lost and still as in old days this obligation is escaped if the loss is due to fire, floods or another force majeure. Precious stones, cotton and silk stuffs, metal vessels, money in a sealed bag and similar things are handed to the creditor only to be kept by him in custody and not to be used.² In Behar the pledge is generally called Bandhik=Bandha of the Smṛtis; in the pledge of immovable properties distinction is made between the usufruct of a piece of land for a certain period by which the principal and the interests are annihilated, the usufruct which serves to satisfy only the interests and the pledge which becomes the property of the creditor if the debtor cannot pay off the principal within a certain period ³. In the Punjab too the usable pledge is the most common form of pledges⁴. According to Steele many of the rules about suretyship are still observed in the South.⁵ Thus there are four kinds of suretyship: