Short title and extent — (1) This Act may be called the Hindu Disposition of Property Act 1916
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Dispositions for the benefit of persons not in existence. —Subject to the limitations and provisions specified in this Act, no disposition of property by a Hindu, whether by transfer inter vivos or by will, shall be invalid by reason only that any person for whose benefit it may have been made was not in existence at the date of such disposition.
Since the testator cannot by his will make a disposition in favour of a person who was unborn at the date of the death of the testator, he cannot achieve the same object through the medium of a power of appointment. (ILR 1949 (2) Cal 611)
- Limitations and conditions. —The limitations and provisions referred to in Section 2 shall be the following, namely:
(a) in respect of dispositions by transfer inter vivos, those contained in Chapter II of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882), and
(b) in respect of dispositions by will those contained in sections 113, 114, 115 and 116 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (33 of 1925).
- Failure of prior disposition. —[Rep. by the Transfer of Property (Amendment) (Supplementary) Act, 1929 (21 of 1929)].
- Application of this Act to the Khoja community. —Where the State Government is of opinion that the Khoja community in the State or any part thereof desire that the provisions of this Act should be extended to such community, it may by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that the provisions of this Act, with the substitution of the word “Khojas” or “Khoja” as the case may be, for the word “Hindus” or “Hindu” wherever those words occur, shall apply to that community in such area as may be specified in the notification, and this Act shall thereupon have effect accordingly.
