SCHOOLS OF HINDU LAW
- Due to the emergence of various commentaries on SMIRITI and SRUTI, different schools of thoughts arose.
- The commentary in one part of the country varied from the commentary in the other parts of the country.
- School means rules and principles of Hindu Law which are divided into opinion. It is not codified. There are two Schools of Hindu Law:
- Mitakshara
- Dayabhaga.
- Mitakshara School prevails throughout India except in Bengal. It is a running commentary on the code of Yajnavalkya (Yajnavalkya Smriti).
- Mitakshara is an orthodox School whereas the Dayabhaga is Reformist School.
- The Mitakshara and Dayabhaga Schools differed on important issues as regards the rules of inheritance. However, this branch of the law is now codified by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which has dissolved the differences between the two. Now, the main difference between them is on joint family system.
Mitakshara
- Rights in the joint family property is acquired by birth, and as a rule, females have no right of succession to the family property. The right to property passes by survivorship to the other male members of the family.
Dayabhaga
- Rights in the joint family property are acquired by inheritance or by will, and the share of a deceased male member goes to his widow in default of a closed heir.
- "Mitakshara" is derived from the name of a commentary written by Vijnaneswara, on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.
- "Dayabhaga" is derived from a similarly named text written by Jimutavahana.
- In all other parts of India the Mitakshara School of law is observed. The Dayabhaga School of law is observed in Bengal and Assam.
- The Mitakshara School of law is subdivided into the Benares, the Mithila, the Maharashtra and the Dravida schools.