History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.493

v4.c63.t2.493

There is a large body of caselaw about the right of a widow in a joint Hindu family to reside in the family house, about the right of a daughter-in-law against her deceased husband's father who has no ancestral property in his hands and against the heirs of the father-in-law, about the amount of maintenance to be allowed to a widow and about the rate at which arrears of maintenance are to be allowed, about the period for which arrears may be awarded, about making the maintenance a charge on the estate in the hands of the heirs, about varying the rate of maintenance fixed by a decree or an agreement &c. These are not quite germane to the present volume, particularly because most of the decisions on these matters are not based on the words of the smṛtis or of the medieval digests, but are based on logic and principles of justice and equity. But there is one matter which deserves a passing reference. Ancient Hindu Law attached the highest spiritual importance to the payment of debts (vide pp. 414-417 above). Therefore debts contracted by a Hindu are held by the Courts to take precedence over the right of maintenance of a man's wife, his infant child or his widow after his death.¹⁶⁰⁰ Similarly debts contracted by the manager of the joint family of which the widow's husband was a member would take precedence over the widow's right of maintenance, provided the debts were for the benefit of the family or were for legal necessity.