Discuss the general rules of Succession in the case of a male Hindus dying intestate.

Discuss the general rules of Succession in the case of a male Hindus dying intestate. Give illustrations.

Ans. General Rules of Succession in case of Hindu males–S.8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 lays down general rules of succession in the the case of males dying intestate. The Act has gs succession for the devolution of the property of (i) A male dying intestate; and (ii) A female dying intestate. The section divides the heirs of a male for the purposes of inheriting the property into following four classes–I. First, upon the heirs, being the relatives s; Schedule who are as under—(i) Son, (ii) Daughter, (iii) Widow, (iv) Mother, (v) Son of a pre-dcceased son, (vi) Daughter of a pre-deceased son, (vii) Son of a pre-deceased daughter, (viii) Daughter of a pre-deceased daughter. (ix) Widow of a pre-deceased son, (x) Son of pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son, (xi) Daughter of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son, (xii) Widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son. IL According to S. 8(b) heirs in class H in the Schedule, succeeded in the absence of any heirs in class I—(i) Father, (ii) Son’s daughter’s son, 2. Son’s daughter’s daughter, 3. Brother. 4. Sister. (iii) 1. Daughter’s son’s son, 2. Daughter’s son’s daughter, 3. Daughter’s daughter’s son, 4. Daughter’s daughter’s daughter, (iv) 1. Brother’s son, 2. Sister’s son, 3. Brother’s daughter, 4. Sister’s daughter, (v) Father’s father, father’s mother, (vi) Father’s widow, brother’s widow, (vii) Father’s brother, father’s sister, (viii) Mother’s father, mother ‘s mother, (ix) Mother’s brother, mother’s sister. In this schedule references to a brother or sister do not include references to a brother or sister by uterine blood. For Example—A, a male Hindu dies leaving behind father, brother and sister’s daughter. Father gets the whole property, as heir in entry I of the class H excludes the brother and sister’s daughter, who are in entry III and IV respectively. III. Thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the agnates of the deceased, and IV. Lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the deceased. It must be remembered that in case of a Mitakshara coparcenary, where the father acquires ancestral properly at a partition but has sons, grandsons and great-grandsons who acquired interest by birth in that property, devolution of the deceased’s ancestral property, shall take place in ‘favour of the male lines descendants by survivorship. Here no question of applying these statutory rules shall arise, but where it devolves by succession under the proviso to S.6, because a female relative specified in class I of the Schedule survives the deceased coparcener, the sons, shall get a share by virtue of their being heirs in class I. For Examples —1. A. a male Hindu dies leaving surviving him a son, S, a father F, and a mother M and a daughter D. The son, the daughter and the other will inherit to the exclusion of the father who is an heir of class I, whereas the former are the heirs of class I. 2. A. a male Hindu dies leaving surviving him a widow and a son of pre-dcceased son S, sister FD and a brother’s Bs. he and S will succeed to the exclusion of FD and BS. 2. A, a male Hindu dies leaving surviving him a brother. FS and FSSS (brother’s grandsons). FS will exclude FSSS as the former is mentioned in class II and the latter is an agnate of third category mentioned in the section. 3. A. a male Hindu dies leaving surviving him brother’s grandsons FSSS and brother’s daughter’s son BDS. The first is an agnate and the second is cognate, so the first will exclude the second. Order of Succession Among the Heirs In the Schedule—According to S. 9, heirs in class I of the Schedules are to succeed simultaneously; in other words, they form one group of heirs and succeed in a body. Heirs mentioned in class II are excluded, so long as there is even a single heir in class I. He succeeds in preference to all others mentioned in class II. For Example—if a male dies intestate, living only a daughter surviving him, the daughter shall succeed in preference to the father in entry of class 11. S.9 says-“Among the heirs, specified in the Schedule those in class I shall lake simultaneously and to the exclusion of all other heirs; those in the first entry in class 11 shall be preferred to those in the second entry, those in the second entry, shall be preferred to those in the third entry, and so on in succession.” Thus, it is clear that the intention of the legislature is to scheme out of a line of succession based upon nearness of relation ship and presumed natural affection of the deceased and that there should be no distinction between persons standing in the same degree of relationship merely by reason of sex or by any principle of superiority of one born through a male over another through a female.