Preservation of ancient hindu jurisprudence and pious obligation

While Section 4 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, gives the codified law an overriding effect, it does not completely obliterate the underlying foundational tenets of classical Hindu jurisprudence. Classical Hindu scriptures, including Chapter 8, Verse 389 of the Manu Smriti, emphasize the inviolable moral and social duty of the head of a family to maintain female family members and avoid abandoning blameless relatives. The legal heirs inheriting an estate remain bound by pious obligations to fulfill the duties that the deceased was legally and morally bound to perform during his lifetime. Upon the death of a son, it becomes the moral obligation of the family estate to support the widowed daughter-in-law if she cannot maintain herself from her own resources. Codified provisions under Chapter III of the Act reflect and formalize these traditional principles rather than seeking to dismantle them. The Act does not intend to eliminate the pious obligation owed by the family estate to protect and maintain a widowed daughter-in-law. Thus, classical principles reinforce the statutory entitlement of a widowed daughter-in-law to seek maintenance from inherited family wealth. (Kanchana Rai v. Geeta Sharma & Ors. | 2026 INSC 54)