Report No. 110

11.3. Section 58.-

Section 58 reads as follows:-

"58. (1) The provisions of this Part shall not apply to testamentary succession to the property of any Muhammadan nor, save as provided by section 57, to testamentary succession to the .property of any Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina; nor shall they apply to any will made before the first day of January 1866.

(2) Save as provided in sub-section (1) or by any other law for the time being in force, the provisions of this Part shall constitute the law of India applicable to all cases of testamentary succession."

The exclusion of Muhammadans in section 58(1), in earlier half, is explained by the fact that the Muslim law of wills, which is a part of the personal law of Muslims, had already developed on its own lines when the Act came to be enacted, and it was not considered expedient to abrogate its doctrines and substitute new ones in their place.

The more important provision is really sub-section (2), which, because of its peremptory language, has the effect of emphasising the "codifying" nature of this Part of the Act.