Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) 
1928: Act XII 
CONTENTS 
1. Short title, extent and application. 
2. Persons not to be excluded from inheritance or rights in joint -family 
property. 
3. Saving and exception. 
THE HINDU INHERITANCE (REMOVAL OF 
DISABILITIES) ACT, 1928 
(XII of 1928) 
 
 
TEXT 
1
THE HINDU INHERITANCE (REMOVAL OF DISABILITIES) ACT, 
1928 
(XII of 1928) 
[29 September 1928] 
An 
Act 
to amend the Hindu Law relating to exclusion from inheritance of certain classes of heirs, 
and to remove certain doubts. 
 WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Hindu Law relating to exclusio n from 
inheritance of certain classes of heirs, and to remove certain doubts; 
 It is hereby enacted as follows:– 
1. Short title, extent and application .– (1) This Act may be called the Hindu 
Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) Act, 1928. 
 
2
[(2) It extends to the whole of 
3
[the Punjab].] 
 (3) It shall not apply to any person governed by the Dayab haga School of Hindu 
Law. 
2. Persons not to be excluded from inheritance or rights in joint -family property.– 
Notwithstanding any rule of Hindu Law or custom to the contrary, no person governed by the 
Hindu Law, other  than a person who is and has been from birth a lunatic or idiot, shall be 
excluded from inheritance or from any right or share in joint-family property by reason only of 
any disease, deformity, or physical or mental defect. 
3. Saving and exception .– Nothing contained in this Act shall affect any right which 
has accrued or any liability which has been incurred before the commencement thereof, or 
shall be deemed to confer upon any person any right in res pect of any religious office or 
service or of the management of any religious or charitable trust which he would not have 
had if this Act had not been passed. 
 
 
                                                           
1For the Statement of Objects and Reasons, see , Gazette of India, 1928, P art V, p. 51. This Act received the assent of the 
Governor General on 20th September, 1928; published in the Gazette of India, Part IV, dated September 29, 1928, p. 29.  This 
Act was originally in the Federal ambit, however, the subject on which this law was enacted devolved to the provinces by virtue 
of 18 th Amendment in the Constitution  of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hence it was adapted, with amendments, for the 
province of the Punjab by the Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) (Amendment) Act 2012 (XI of 2012). 
2Substituted by the Central Laws (Statute Reform) Ordinance, 1960 (XXI of 1960), (w.e.f. 14.10.1955), published in the Gazette 
of Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated June 9, 1960, pp. 725-845, s. 3 read with Second Schedule; which were earlier substituted 
by the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Act 1951 (XXVI of 1951), s.  8, which were earlier omitted the words “and the 
Sonthal Parganas” by the Adaptation of Central Acts and Ordinances Order, 1949 (G.G.O. No. 4 of 1949), (w.e.f. 28.3.1949), 
published in the Gazette of Pakistan, pp. 223-283, Articles 3(2) and 4. 
3Substituted for the word “Pakistan” by the Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) (Amenment) Act 2012 (XI of 2012), 
published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated Februray 11, 2012, p. 40139, s. 2.