History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.278

v4.c63.t2.278

The whole law about the succession of bandhus is in a confused state owing to conflicting decisions, but the P. C. has laid down certain propositions which may be set down here: (1) ātmabandhus succeed before pitṛbandhus and pitṛbandhus before mātṛbandhus; (2) the nearer in degree in each class of bandhus is preferable to the more remote; (3) as between bandhus of the same class, the conferring of spiritual benefit would be a ground of preference, as the Vīramitrodaya invokes that principle in several cases (and so the father's half sister's son would be preferred to the mother's sister's son, though both are ātmabandhus and of equal degree); (4) if the above three rules fail, bandhus *ex parte paterna* (on the father's side) succeed before bandhus *ex parte materna* (on the mother's side); (5) the bandhu between whom and the propositus a lesser number of females intervenes is to be preferred. As a corollary of the 2nd rule it should follow that the descendants of the propositus would be preferred to ascendants and collaterals and that bandhus of the same class that are descendants of a nearer line would succeed in preference to descendants of a remoter line though of the same class. But this last proposition has not yet been settled by the Privy Council. It has been, however, held in *Debi Das v. Mukat Behari* I. L. R. (1943) All. 131 that a sister's son's son should be preferred to the deceased's cousin's daughter's son, since the former belongs to a nearer line.