When a Hindu family migrates from one State to another, the law draws a presumption that it carries with it its personal law, i.e., the laws and customs prevailing in the State from which it came. The presumption can, however, be rebutted, by showing that such a family has adopted the law and usages of the new province where it has settled down.
Thus, for instance, where a Hindu family migrates say, from Maharashtra (where the Mitakshara law prevails), to Bengal (where the Dayabhaga law prevails), the presumption is that the family continues to be governed by the Mitakshara Law. This presumption may be rebutted by showing that the family has abandoned the law of the province of its origin (i.e. Maharashtra), and adopted the law of the province where it has settled (i.e. Bengal).
So also, if a Hindu governed by the Mitakshara migrates from Bombay to Calcutta, he is still presumed to be governed by the Mitakshara, unless he displaces such a presumption in the manner stated above. It is for this reason that it has rightly been said that Hindu Law is not a lex loci, i.e., a local law, but it is, in every sense, a personal law.
Image Source: i.ytimg.com
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In Abdurahim v. Halimabai, (43 IA 34), the Court observed: “Where a Hindu family migrates from one part of India to another, prima facie, they carry with them their personal law, and if they are alleged to have become subject to a new local custom, this new custom must be affirmatively proved to have been adopted.”
It is also to be noted that it is the law as it existed at the time of the migration that continues to govern the migrated members. Thus, such persons are affected by decisions of the Courts of their State of origin which declare the law as it existed at the time of the migration, but not by customs incorporated in its law after the date of migration.
When such migration takes place to a country outside India, the Court may presume that such a family has adopted the law of that country, if it is shown that the family has so acted as to raise an inference that they have cut off all the ties of their earlier environment.