Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) Act, 1928

The Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) Act, 1928 (Act XII of 1928) amends Hindu inheritance law to stop certain people from being excluded from inheritance because of disease or disability. Section 1 extends the Act to the whole of Pakistan (per a 1960 amendment) but excludes anyone governed by the Dayabhaga school of Hindu law.

Section 2 is the operative rule: notwithstanding any rule of Hindu law or custom to the contrary, no person governed by Hindu law can be excluded from inheritance, or from any right or share in joint-family property, merely because of a disease, deformity, or physical or mental defect — with one exception: a person who is, and has been from birth, a lunatic or idiot can still be excluded.

Section 3 is a saving clause protecting rights that had already accrued, or liabilities already incurred, before the Act took effect, and clarifies the Act does not give anyone new rights over a religious office, religious service, or management of a religious/charitable trust that they would not otherwise have had.

This is an old (1928) personal-law statute, amended in 1960 as shown in the extract. It should be read together with current Hindu personal law and, where relevant, checked against the official gazette text for further amendments.