Family Law I Notes | B.A. LL.B. (Five Year Course) Semester 6 | Mumbai University | munotes

Contents

Module I

1. What This Paper Covers, and What It Does Not 1
2. Who Muslim Law Applies To, and Who Decides 5
3. Why a Legal System Needs Sources at All 10
4. The Quran 13
5. The Sunna 17
6. Ijma, the Consensus of the Jurists 20
7. Qiyas, Analogical Deduction 24
8. Custom and Usage 28
9. Judicial Precedent, Legislation, and Equity 32
10. Why Muslim Law Divides Into Schools 36
11. The Hanafi School 40
12. The Maliki, Shafii and Hanbali Schools 44
13. The Shia Schools 48
14. Marriage Under Muslim Law: Contract or Sacrament 52
15. The Essential Requisites of a Valid Muslim Marriage 57
16. Capacity to Marry, and the Prohibited Relationships 62
17. Valid, Void and Irregular Marriages 67
18. What Follows From a Void or an Irregular Marriage 71
19. The Option of Puberty 75
20. Muta, the Marriage for a Fixed Term 79
21. Iddat 83
22. Halala 87
23. Mehr: What It Is and Why the Law Insists On It 91
24. The Classification of Mehr 95
25. The Wife's Remedies for Unpaid Dower 99

Module II

1. The Ways a Muslim Marriage Can End 105
2. Dissolution by the Death of a Spouse 109
3. Talaq, and Why Muslim Law Permits Divorce 113
4. Who May Pronounce Talaq, and When It Takes Effect 117
5. Oral Talaq and Talaq in Writing 122
6. Talaq al Sunna: Ahsan and Hasan 126
7. Talaq al Biddat, the Triple Pronouncement 130
8. Shayara Bano v. Union of India 135
9. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 140
10. Talaq e Tafwid, the Delegated Divorce 145
11. Khula 150
12. Mubarat 155
13. Ila, the Vow of Abstinence 158
14. Zihar, the Injurious Comparison 162
15. Lian, the False Charge of Adultery 166
16. Judicial Dissolution Before the Act of 1939 170
17. The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939: The Nine Grounds 174
18. Apostasy, Notice to the Husband, and the Rest of the 1939 Act 180
19. What Follows a Dissolution 185
20. Maintenance: The General Principles 189
21. Who Is Entitled to Maintenance Under Muslim Law 193
22. Maintenance From a Magistrate: Section 144 of the Sanhita 197
23. Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum 203
24. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 207
25. Danial Latifi v. Union of India 214
26. Maintenance: The Law As It Stands Now 218
27. Parentage and Legitimacy 223
28. The Presumption of Legitimacy 227
29. Acknowledgement of Paternity 231
30. Guardianship: What It Is and What Kinds There Are 237
31. Guardianship of the Person, and Hizanat 242
32. Guardianship of Property, and the De Facto Guardian 248
33. Disqualification, Removal and Discharge of a Guardian 255
34. Which Court, and What Can Be Appealed 261
35. Hiba: The Three Essentials of a Muslim Gift 265
36. Kinds of Gift, and What Is Not a Hiba 270
37. Musha, and Gifts With Conditions Attached 275
38. Revocation of a Gift 280
39. Pre-emption: The Nature of the Right 284
40. Who May Pre-empt, and How the Right Is Exercised and Lost 289
41. Waqf, and Who a Mutawalli Is 294
42. The Duties of a Mutawalli 300
43. The Mutawalli's Statutory Duties: Registration, Budget and Accounts 305
44. Alienation of Waqf Property 311
45. Appointment and Removal of a Mutawalli 317
46. What the Legislation of 2025 Changed 323

Module III

1. Parsi Personal Law and the Act of 1936 329
2. Parsi Marriage: Requisites and Registration 334
3. Offences and Irregularities Under the Parsi Act 340
4. The Parsi Matrimonial Courts and the Delegates 345
5. Nullity and Dissolution of a Parsi Marriage 350
6. The Grounds for Divorce Under the Parsi Act 354
7. Judicial Separation and Restitution of Conjugal Rights Under the Parsi Act 361
8. Alimony, Maintenance and Property Under the Parsi Act 366
9. Custody of Children, and Remarriage, Under the Parsi Act 372
10. Christian Personal Law and the Act of 1872 377
11. Who May Solemnize a Christian Marriage 383
12. Time, Place, Notice and the Certificate 388
13. Registration of a Christian Marriage 396
14. Marriage By or Before a Marriage Registrar 402
15. Marriages Between Indian Christians 411
16. Penalties and the Remaining Provisions of the 1872 Act 419
17. The Divorce Act 1869: Scheme and Jurisdiction 428
18. Dissolution of a Christian Marriage 436
19. Divorce by Mutual Consent, and Why Section 10A Had to Be Inserted 445
20. Nullity of a Christian Marriage 452
21. Judicial Separation and Restitution of Conjugal Rights 459
22. Protection Orders 467
23. Alimony and Settlements 475
24. Custody of Children, and Remarriage 484
25. Court Procedure and the Remaining Provisions 492

Module IV

1. The Indian Succession Act 1925: What It Does and Who It Binds 501
2. The Scheme of the Act, Part by Part 508
3. Domicile: Why the Act Starts Here 514
4. Domicile of Origin 520
5. Domicile of Choice 526
6. The Domicile of a Married Woman, a Minor and a Lunatic 533
7. What Marriage Does and Does Not Do to Property 540
8. Consanguinity 547
9. Intestate Succession: What Intestacy Means 554
10. The Share of a Widow or Widower 561
11. Distribution Among Lineal Descendants 568
12. Where There Is No Lineal Descendant 575
13. Intestate Succession Among Parsis 583
14. Wills: What One Is and Who May Make One 592
15. How an Unprivileged Will Is Executed 601
16. Privileged Wills 609
17. The Attesting Witness 617
18. Revocation, Alteration and Revival of a Will 623
19. Construing a Will: The Words the Testator Used 633
20. Construing a Will: Reading It as a Whole 642
21. Bequests to Heirs, Representatives and Classes 651
22. The Residuary Legatee 661
23. When a Legacy Lapses 667
24. Void Bequests: The Unborn Person, Perpetuity and Accumulation 675
25. Bequests to Religious and Charitable Uses: Section 118 and What Happened to It 684
26. When a Legacy Vests 690
27. Onerous Bequests 699
28. Conditional Bequests 706
29. Directions That Follow an Absolute Bequest 716
30. Specific Legacies 724
31. Demonstrative Legacies 733
32. Ademption of Legacies 740
33. Who Bears the Cost, and Bequests Described in General Terms 749
34. Annuities, and a Legacy Alongside a Debt or a Portion 757
35. Election 765
36. Protecting the Property of a Deceased Person 775
37. Who Represents the Estate 781
38. Probate and Letters of Administration 788
39. Which Court Grants, and When a Grant Is Revoked 798
40. The Executor's Powers and Duties, and the Distribution of the Estate 808
41. Succession Certificates, and the End of the Act 820