History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.513

v4.c63.t2.513

Another provision in the draft Hindu Code which has come in for severe animadversion is the provision that a woman even when taking by inheritance an estate from a male or by partition should be held to become absolute owner thereof. In the first place, if a man's agnate of the 13th degree or a male cognate up to the 5th degree takes an estate absolutely and may squander it away as he pleases, one fails to see why his own widow should not have a like power in the 20th century, whatever may have been the view of ancient works. In the second place, this objection can be met by means of a compromise, viz. that a widow inheriting her husband's estate will take only a limited estate if at the time of her husband's death any one of the compact series of heirs or any direct lineal descendant of her husband (such as a son's daughter or daughter's daughter) be alive, but she will take an absolute estate if none of these exists. Such a compromise should allay all fears about the widow unfairly disposing of the estate against near relations like the daughter or daughter's son or husband's brother &c. There are numerous other objections, but they are in matters of detail and if once it is agreed that there should be a Code of Hindu Law passed by the Indian Legislature these matters of detail may be adjusted to the satisfaction of most people.