An Appraisal on Doctrine of Pious Obligation & Its Competent Responsibility upon Daughters

Doctrine of pious obligation is a religious duty of the sons to repay the vyavaharika debts taken by their deceased father. This doctrine has created a lot of confusion and controversial decisions in the past due to which it was abrogated post the Hindu Succession Amendment Act, 2005. This paper analyses the various aspects connected with the doctrine and also examines the various ways in which legal heirs could be made responsible for paying off their deceased father’s past debts in the present situation. This research article also aims to appraise the doctrine of pious obligation which is aid to be a biased doctrine as it only imposes the liability to pay-off past debts upon the son even though daughters have an equal right in property inheritance. Post the 2005 Amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, the doctrine has been abrogated but the obligation to repay the debts carried out before the amendment is still applicable. This research paper is aimed at exploring the irregularities with relevant case laws that led to its abolition and also aims at examining Daughter’s responsibility in paying-off past debts. The paper also highlights suggestions that can be adopted to reduce the wilful defaults arising post its abolition.