Guardianship Case Study

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Statement of problem The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 primarily deals with the issue of guardianship to a minor child. The expression ‘minor’ includes a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years. The Act is applicable only to the persons who are Hindu by religion. Section 6 of the act provides that the father shall be the guardian of minor child and after him mother shall be the guardian. Even under Muslim Law, father has preferred right over child. The proviso thus, discriminates between the father and mother. Review of Literature Objectives  To give a clear picture of the Guardianship under Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Parsi Laws  To strengthen the welfare principle in the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and Hindu…show more content…
Reserve Bank of India, 37 the constitutional validity of Section 6(a) was challenged as violating the guarantee of equality of sexes under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. This case heavily relies on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Jijabai Vithalrao Gajre vs. Pathankhan and ors . This was a case in which it was held that the position in Hindu law was that when the father was alive he was the natural guardian and it was only after him that the mother became the natural guardian. Where the father was alive but had fallen out with the mother of the minor child and was living separately for several years without taking any interest in the affairs of the minor, who was in the keeping and care of the mother, it was held that, in the peculiar circumstances, the father should be treated as if nonexistent and, therefore, the mother could be considered as the natural guardian of the minor’s person as well as property, having power to bind the minor by dealing with her immovable…show more content…
The Court held the term after ‘in Section 6(a) should not be interpreted to mean after the lifetime of the father, ‘but rather that it should be taken to mean in the absence of the father. The Court further specified that absence could be understood as temporary or otherwise or total apathy of the father towards the child or even inability of the father by reason of ailment or otherwise

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