Development of property rights of women from

Muluki Ain 1910 to Muluki Civil code 2074

Table of contents
CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………. 3

1.2 OBJECTIVE ……………………………………………..4

1.3 LIMITATIONS ………………………………………….4

1.4 METHODOLOGY………………………………….4

CHAPTER 2
2.1 MULUKI AIN 1910 ……………………………………5

2.2 MULUKI AIN 2020……………………………………6,7

2.3 MULUKI CIVIL CODE 2074…………………………8,9

CHAPTER 3
3.1 ANALYSIS………………………………………………10,11

3.2 CONCLUSION…………………………………………..11
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CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION:
Property rights of women is the right of women to their property or their
entitlement to the property. Development of the women’s right to the property
helps us to analyze the developing idea of the women’s right to their property
through the changes in the law and legal system of the country. This paper
wants to present the development of laws and legal system of Nepal regarding
the women’s property right from Muluki Ain 1910 to Muluki Civil code 2074 ,
and the necessary changes it went through.

The limiting the women’s property right and restricting women from property
rights is against the development and growth of the women in the society.
Ownership of land and various moveable and immoveable property directly
helps to empower women and provides income and security 1. Without enough
resources the women would not have the means of earning and generating the
income which makes their life even harder in comparison to the men who have
had already the full control over the resources from the past. Providing property
rights to the women empowers women to earn and discourages the economic
dependency of women to the men particularly dependency of wives their
husbands , mothers to their sons , daughters to their brothers. This plays a great
role in lessening the domestic violence, crime rate, violence against women ,
and poverty to an extent.

1
https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/focus-areas/women-poverty-economics/women-s-land-property-rights
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1.2 OBJECTIVE;
1. To know about the legal development of the property rights of women from
Muluki ain 1910 to Muluki civil code act 2074.
2. To trace the development of women’s right to property from the history to
the present time.
3. The paper is presented with the objective to analyze the development and
changes seen in women’s right to their property within the time interval of
1910 to 2074 in the law and legal system of the country.

1.3 LIMITATIONS :
The paper is limited within the periphery of the development of the
laws of property rights of women inside the country. The paper is limited with
the development of the women’s property rights from 1910 Muluki Ain to the
Muluki Civil Code Act 2074. This means the paper is concerned and is limited
only within the legislation and laws relating to the development of the property
rights of women since 1910 code till the date.

1.4 METHODOLOGY :
The paper is prepared by studying the books, journals , articles and available
resources. The MULUKI AIN 1910, MULUKI AIN 2020, MULUKI CIVIL
CODE ACT 2074 were studied for the analyzing the development of the
property rights of women in Nepal from the very first code of Nepal to the
present/ existing code.
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CHAPTER 2
2.1 MULUKI AIN 1910:
The muluki ain 1910 was the first ever codified law that governed the people all
over the territory of Nepal. This code covered wide areas of law within civil and
criminal law. The muluki ain had lots of provision regarding the property rights of
women. The rights regarding to the property of women as mentioned in muluki ain
1910 is listed below.

1. The muluki ain 1910 gave the property share to the women according to
their caste, rituals, and the type of marriage they performed according to
the chapter on partition.
2. If the man marriages a lower caste women , then she would not be entitled
with equal share of his property2.
3. The types of the women according to their caste , and according to the
marriage ritual they perform is the only basis women are given share to the
property of her husband.
4. The caste of the women a man marriages plays a vital role in the share of
his property to the women.
5. The widow had right to the property of her husband but the women didn’t
have the discretion over his property, there were the age limitation to use or
sell the property by the widow women even though she had the share of the
husband property.
6. The widow right to the property of her husband didn’t have her discretion
over the property but was guided by the religious rituals she performs after
the death of her husband and how long she stays without marrying again.
7. The women’s private property as ( daijo) and (pewa) also depended upon
the class and the class of woman .

2
Muluki ain 1910
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8. The women would only have full discretion of her private property but they
were also divided according to the caste of the woman and her family.
9. There were the provisions on the women property but it was highly divided
on the basis of: the caste of the women , the family of the man she gets
married with and particularly the type of the marriage couple has done.

2.2 MULUKI AIN 2020:

“The alone is stridhan which she (women) has power to give , sell or use
independently of her husband’s control”-Jiyuthan. Sridhan is regarded as the
property of women which she can use independently and freely without
anyone’s control whether it be their husband, son, brother or anyone else3.
Muluki Ain 2020 has a different chapter on the women’s share and property
(Stridhan).The provision relating Women’s share and property is given in
chapter 14 , of the Muluki Ain 2020. Number 1 of the chapter on Women’s
share and property says an unmarried woman, a woman having husband or a
widow may use and dispose of the immoveable property which they earned on
their discretion.
The property of women can be categorized into the 2 forms:
1. The moveable and the immoveable property of the women which is received
from her parent’s family, the property that she has obtained as
dowry( daijo), the exclusive property(pewa) . Woman may use or dispose
these property on their own discretion .
2. The property which is the women is coparcener to or moveable or
immoveable property of her share ,like the property of partition , which
women does not have full discretion over it.

So, The women had the property rights over property obtained from their
parents as dowry and their exclusive property which they could use or dispose
with their own discretion independently. Also, they had the right over the
property of their husband which is the subject to the partition too.

3
Muluki ain 2020
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As mentioned in Muluki Ain 2020 , the women’s property can be obtained by

following ways:
1. Self earned: Self earned here means the property earned by women by her
own skill, knowledge, hard work whether moveable or immoveable
property. As woman has full ownership over these property this kind of
property according to number 1. of the chapter on women’s share and
property, the married , unmarried, widow woman has full discretion over
this property.
2. Dowry: The property obtained by the woman from her parents , relatives,
friends and family whether moveable or immoveable property and the
property she has increased from it is called dowry (daijo) . The provision
relating to this type of property is mentioned in number 4. of the chapter on
women’s share and property.
3. Exclusive property: The property whether moveable or immoveable
obtained or received from husband and the moveable and immoveable
property given to the woman by other relatives or friends on the side of her
husband and the property she has increased from it is called exclusive
property( pewa) .
Furthermore , the following listed property is also included within the
women’s property:
4. The inheritance property: Woman have her discretion over the moveable or
immoveable property obtained from inheritance according to
number.2, .3, .7, .10,.12 of the chapter on inheritance of Muluki Ain 2020.
5. The property obtained by adopted daughter : Woman has her discretion over
the property whether moveable or immoveable ,earned by the woman
according to the chapter on the adoption.
6. The property obtained by the donation or gift : Any property obtained by
woman through any organization or any person given as gift or donation.
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2.3 MULUKI CIVIL CODE ACT 2074 :

The muluki civil code 2074 does not have a separate chapter for the women’s share
and property. But it does have lots of improvements than the old muluki ain 2020
on the part of property of women.

The major improvements and the provisions on property rights of women are listed
below:

1. The husband , wife, son , daughter, father , mother are considered as the
coparceners of the ancestral property according to section 205, chapter10 of
the laws relating to property in Muluki civil code act 20744.
2. According to section 208 of the muluki civil code 2074 , the the child who’s
father is unidentified would be the coparceners of their mother’s property.
3. The father die before the partition of the property , the wife , the son and the
daughter would get this part of the property, according to the section 209 of
the muluki civil code 2074.
4. The husband , wife, father, mother, daughter and son can claim the partition
of the property if the coparceners do not fulfill the basic needs and of the
coparceners as per their capacity.
5. According to the section 213 of muluki civil code 2074 , the husband or wife
both can take their own share of the property and live separately , if the wife
or husband throws out each or other out of the house or torture each other
mentally and abuse physically.
6. The widow can get their share of property and get separated anytime
according to section 214 of the muluki civil code 2074.

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Muluki civil code act 2074
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7. The moveable or immoveable property obtained by woman from her

parents , family and friends before her marriage and property she has
increased from it is her private property or private property of women ,
according to section 256 of the muluki civil code act 2074.
8. The property whether moveable and immoveable ,obtained from the
husband and the property obtained by the woman from the family and
friends from her husband side is considered as the private property of
women according to section 256 of muluki civil code 2074.
9. Moreover, the property of any type, moveable and immoveable property
obtained from the hard work, knowledge , skill of the women is also the
private property of the women, she has full discretion over the property or
any private property she owns.
10.The property earned through the donation or gift or inheritance , lottery is
her private property according to the section 256 ( law relating to private
property) of the Muluki civil code act 20745.
11.Any sort of intellectual property, or the property obtained as royalty , are the
private property of woman , mentioned in section 256 , section on the private
property in the part 4 ( law relating to the property) of the muluki civil code
2074.

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Muluki civil code act, chapter on laws relating to property.
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Chapter 3

3.1 Analysis

So, analyzing the development of laws particularly on the property rights of

women from Muluki Ain 1910 followed by Muluki Ain 2020 to Muluki civil code
2074 , it seems that law has been developed progressively in the matter of the
property rights of the women . From the time of Manu who stated that, “A wife, a
son and a slave these three have declared to have no property .The wealth which
they earn is acquired for him whom they belong.” 6 to the present context where the
women and the men has do difference in the property rights the property rights of
woman has developed a lot. Not just the property rights the development of the
status of women from whom they considered shall never be independent to the
time right now, where women are empowered to be independent , the laws has
been changed , amended and made with the base of equality of both men and
women.
Moreover, discussing about the changes according to the prevalent laws of that
time (1910) to now, 1910 muluki ain was the base or the foundation for the
development of property right of women but it did have lots of inequalities among
the women itself , dividing them according to their caste and their occupation. The
difference in the varna system played a very vital role in bringing the inequalities
among the women itself . whereas muluki ain 2020 had a separate chapter on the
women’s share and property7 , which divided the private property of women that
can be seen as a great progress, furthermore , the categorization of woman

6
http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/TWR-05.html
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Muluki ain 2020, chapter on women’s share and property
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according to their caste and their occupation was removed in every terms, whether
in marriage or in property after the marriage. This takes us to presume that the
women rights on their property was slowly being restored and the status of women
started strengthening. The women were subject to the adoption as well, the
discretion to their private property directly encouraged women to earn and be
independent. Coming to the Muluki civil code 2074 the woman are now equal
coparceners to the ancestral property as well, that means the daughters are have
also the equal share to the ancestral property 8. Though there is no separate chapter
on women’s share and property the property rights of women has been equal to the
men in the society. Whether it is daughter or mother, wife , or divorcee , widow or
an unmarried women , the property rights of women has been fully guranteed
through various laws.
We can see a huge improvement on the development
of property rights of women , this does not only indicate the development of the
property laws but also the development of the standard of women of Nepal. The
property rights of women has now empowered women not just with the property or
money but also with the equality and equal dignity as men.

3.2 Conclusion

To sum up the entire paper , the development of property rights of women

from Muluki Ain 1910 to the Muluki Civil Code Act 2074 has been a great
progress in the law and legal system of the country. The woman who were
divided due to their caste , occupation , religion for the property rights are
now no more divided into the categories. The women now represents all the
females sex , moreover woman are provided with their own private property
rights , equal shares in the ancestral property and equal pay to the job as
men. So, we can see lots of progressive development and changes in the law
relating to the property rights of women till the date.

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Muluki civil code act 2074
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