The widow's interest in the joint family property, as per the Hindu Womens Rights to Property Act, is liable for the payment of her husband's debts and can be attached by the creditor.

Venkataramana Rao, J.

1. This appeal raises a question relating to the construction of Section 3, Clause (2) of the Hindu Womens Rights to Property Act, 1937. The relevant facts are few. On the 18th December, 1935, the plaintiff obtained a decree for money in O.S. No. 1138 of 1935 on the file of the District Munsif of Coimbatore against the first defendant. Subsequent to the date of the decree the first defendant died. His wife the third defendant was brought on record as his legal representative. The plaintiff sought to implead the brother and the brothers son of the first defendant besides the third defendant, but the Court allowed only the third defendant to be brought on record and dismissed the application against the brother and the brothers son. The order passed by the learned District Munsif is to the following effect:

To implead the widow he relies upon the Act XVIII of 1937 by which a widow obtains the interest of her deceased husband. I do not think that the decree-holder can go both against the widow and against the brother and the brothers son. As the decree-holder is relying upon the Act XVIII of 1937 I must presume that the widow has taken the husbands property and his interest in the joint property. The widow will therefore be added as legal representative and the brother and the brothers son are struck off the record.

2. The third defendant filed a. statement of objections objecting to the execution being issued against her. She stated that her husband before his death left a will in her favour in and by which he gave certain Immovable properties to her for her maintenance which included also the suit properties and therefore they were not liable to be attached. The learned District Munsif took the view that the fact that the properties were given to her for her maintenance would not exonerate her liability to pay her husbands debt and he therefore allowed the execution to issue. On appeal, the learned District Judge took the view that if the properties were self-acquired, the will must be regarded as operative; but if the properties were regarded as joint family properties the share of the husband which vested in the third defendant under the Hindu Womens Rights to Property Act was liable to be attached. He confirmed the decision of the learned District Munsif.

3. On appeal Mr. Vedantam Subramaniam on behalf of the third defendant contends that the view of the learned District Judge in regard to the Hindu Womens Rights to Property Act is not sound. His contention is that under the said Act the . property would be taken by the third defendant free from the liability to pay her husbands debt and that it was not the intention of the Act to enlarge the rights of the creditors. The question is whether this contention is tenable. In view of the recent decision of the Federal Court, In the matter of The Hindu Womens Rights to Property Act (1941) 2 M.L.J. 12 that the said Act does not regulate succession to agricultural lands in the Governors Provinces, of the properties that were attached which comprise 23 items in the schedule to the execution petition, only two items, namely, items 22 and 23 will be governed by the Act. The provisions of the Act which are relevant for the present discussion are Clauses 2 and 3 of Section 3 which run thus:

2. When a Hindu governed by any school of Hindu Law other than the Dayabhag school or by customary law dies intestate having at the time of his death an interest in a Hindu joint family property, his widow shall, subject to the provisions of Sub-section (3), have in the property the same interest as he himself had.

3. Any interest devolving on a Hindu widow under the provisions of this section shall be the limited interest known as a Hindu womans estate, provided however that she shall have the same right of claiming partition as a male owner.

4. Under Section 3 (2) the interest taken by the widow is the same interest as the husband himself had, that is, the interest of an undiv