29. Limitation of powers of guardian of property appointed or declared by the
Court.—Where a person other than a Collector, or than a guardian appointed by will or other
1. For notifications appointing authorities to whose control Collectors appointed under the Act shall be subject, see different
local R. & O.
2. See now the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act 5 of 1898).
10
instrument, has been appointed or declared by the Court to be guardian of the property of a ward, he
shall not, without the previous permission of the Court,—
(a) mortgage or charge, or transfer by sale, gift, exchange or otherwise, any part of the
immovable property of his ward, or
(b) lease any part of that property for a term exceeding five years or for any term extending
more than one year beyond the date on which the ward will cease to be a minor.
30. Viodability of transfers made in contravention of section 28 or section 29.—A disposal of
immovable property by a guardian in contravention of either of the two last foregoing sections is
voidable at the instance of any other person affected thereby.
31. Practice with respect to permitting transfers under section 29.—
(1) Permission to the
guardian to do any of the acts mentioned in section 29 shall not be granted by the Court except in case
of necessity or for an evident advantage to the ward.
(2) The order granting the permission shall recite the necessity or advantage, as the case may
be, describe the property with respect to which the act permitted is to be done, and specify such
conditions, if any, as the Court may see fit to attach to the permission; and it shall be recorded,
dated and signed by the Judge of the Court with his own hand, or, when from any cause he is
prevented from recording the order with his own hand, shall be taken down in writing from his
dictation and be dated and signed by him.
(3) The Court may in its discretion attach to the permission the following among other conditions,
namely:—
(a) that a sale shall not be completed without the sanction of the Court;
(b) that a sale shall be made to the highest bidder by public auction, before the Court or
some person specially appointed by the Court for that purpose, at a time and place to be
specified by the Court, after such proclamation of the intended sale as the Court, subject to
any rules made under this Act by the High Court, directs;
(c) that a lease shall not be made in consideration of a premium or shall be made for such term
of years and subject to such rents and covenants as the Court directs;
(d) that the whole or any part of the proceeds of the act permitted shall be paid into the
Court by the guardian, to be disbursed therefrom or to be invested by the Court on
prescribed securities or to be otherwise disposed of as the Court directs.
(4) Before granting permission to a guardian to do an act mentioned in section 29, the Court
may cause notice of the application for the permission to be given to any relative or friend of the
ward who should, in its opinion, receive notice thereof, and shall hear and record the statement of
any person who appears in opposition to the application.
32. Variation of powers of guardian of property appointed or declared by the Court.—
Where a guardian of the property of a ward has been appointed or declared by the Court and such
guardian is not the Collector, the Court may, from time to time, by order, define, restrict or extend
his powers with respect to the property of the ward in such manner and to such extent as it may
consider to be for the advantage of the ward and consistent with the law to which the ward is
subject.
33. Right of guardian so appointed or declared to apply to the Court for opinion in
management of property of ward.—
(1) A guardian appointed or declared by the Court may
apply by petition to the Court which appointed or declared him for its opinion, advice or direction
on any present question respecting the management or administration of the property of his ward.
(2) If the Court considers the question to be proper for summary disposal, it shall cause a copy of
the petition to be served on, and the hearing thereof may be attended by, such of the persons interested
in the application as the Court thinks fit.
11
(3) The guardian stating in good faith the facts in the petition and acting upon the opinion, advice
or direction given by the Court shall be deemed, so far as regards his own responsibility, to have
performed his duty as guardian in the subject-matter of the application.
34. Obligations on guardian of property appointed or declared by the Court.—Where a
guardian of the property of a ward has been appointed or declared by the Court and such guardian is
not the Collector, he shall,—
(a) if so required by the Court, give a bond, as nearly as may be in the prescribed form, to the
Judge of the Court to ensure for the benefit of the Judge for the time being, with or without
sureties, as may be prescribed, engaging duly to account for what he may receive in respect of the
property of the ward;
(b) if so required by the Court, deliver to the Court, within six months from the date of his
appointment or declaration by the Court, or within such other time as the Court directs, a statement
of the immovable property belonging to the ward, of the money and other movable property which
he has received on behalf of the ward up to the date of delivering the statement, and of the debts
due on that date to or from the ward;
(c) if so required by the Court, exhibit his accounts in the Court at such times and in such form
as the Court from time to time directs;
(e) if so required by the Court, pay into the Court at such time as the Court directs the balance
due from him on those accounts, or so much thereof as the Court directs; and
(f) apply for the maintenance, education and advancement of the ward and of such persons as
are dependent on him, and for the celebration of ceremonies to which the ward or any of those
persons may be a party, such portion of the income of the property of the ward as the Court from
time to time directs, and, if the Court so directs, the whole or any part of that property.
1
[34A. Power to award remuneration for auditing accounts.—When accounts are exhibited by
a guardian of the property of a ward in pursuance of a requisition made under clause
(c) of section 34
or otherwise, the Court may appoint a person to audit the accounts, and may direct that remuneration
for the work be paid out of the income of the property.]
35. Suit against guardian where administration bond was taken.—Where a guardian appointed
or declared by the Court has given a bond duly to account for what he may receive in respect of the
property of his ward, the Court may, on application made by petition and on being satisfied that the
engagement of the bond has not been kept, and upon such terms as to security, or providing that any
money received be paid into the Court, or otherwise as the Court thinks fit, assign the bond to some
proper person, who shall thereupon be entitled to sue on the bond in his own name as if the bond had
been originally given to him instead of to the Judge of the Court, and shall be entitled to recover
thereon, as trustee for the ward, in respect of any breach thereof.
36. Suit against guardian where administration bond was not taken.—
(1) Where a guardian
appointed or declared by the Court has not given a bond as aforesaid, any person, with the leave of the
Court, may, as next friend, at any time during the continuance of the minority of the ward, and upon
such terms as aforesaid, institute a suit against the guardian, or, in case of his death, against his
representative, for an account of what the guardian has received in respect of the property of the ward,
and may recover in the suit, as trustee for the ward, such amount as may be found to be payable by the
guardian or his representative, as the case may be.
1. Ins. by Act 17 of 1929, s. 2.
12
(2) The provisions of sub-section
(1) shall, so far as they relate to a suit against a guardian, be
subject to the provisions of section 440 of the Code of Civil Procedure (14 of 1882) as amended by
this Act1.
37. General liability of guardian as trustee.—Nothing in either of the two last foregoing sections
shall be construed to deprive a ward or his representative of any remedy against his guardian, or the
representative of the guardian, which, not being expressly provided in either of those sections, any
other beneficiary or his representative would have against his trustee or the representative of the
trustee.
Termination of guardianship
38. Right of survivorship among joint guardians.—On the death of one of two or more joint
guardians, the guardianship continues to the survivor or survivors until a further appointment is made
by the Court.
39. Removal of guardian. —The Court may, on the application of any person interested, or of its
own motion, remove a guardian appointed or declared by the Court, or a guardian appointed by will or
other instrument, for any of the following causes, namely:—
(a) for abuse of his trust;
(b) for continued failure to perform the duties of his trust;
(c) for incapacity to perform the duties of his trust;
(d) for ill-treatment, or neglect to take proper care, of his ward;
(e) for contumacious disregard of any provision of this Act or of any order of the Court;
(f) for conviction of an offence implying, in the opinion of the Court, a defect of character
which unfits him to be the guardian of his ward;
(g) for having an interest adverse to the faithful performance of his duties;
(h) for ceasing to reside within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court;
(i) in the case of a guardian of the property, for bankruptcy or insolvency;
(j) by reason of the guardianship of the guardian ceasing, or being liable to cease, under the law
to which the minor is subject:
Provided that a guardian appointed by will or other instrument, whether he has been declared
under this Act or not, shall not be removed—
(a) for the cause mentioned in clause
(g) unless the adverse interest accrued after the death of
the person who appointed him, or it is shown that that person made and maintained the
appointment in ignorance of the existence of the adverse interest, or
(b) for the cause mentioned in clause
(h) unless such guardian has taken up such a residence as,
in the opinion of the Court, renders it impracticable for him to discharge the functions of guardian.
40. Discharge of guardian.—
(1) If a guardian appointed or declared by the Court desires to resign
his office, he may apply to the Court to be discharged.
(2) If the Court finds that there is sufficient reason for the application, it shall discharge him, and if
the guardian making the application is the Collector and the State Government approves of his
applying to be discharged, the Court shall in any case discharge him.
41. Cessation of authority of guardian.—
(1) The powers of a guardian of the person cease—
(a) by his death, removal or discharge;
(b) by the Court of Wards assuming superintendence of the person of the ward;
1. See now Order XXXII, rules 1 and 4
(2), in the First Schedule to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of
1908).
13
(c) by the ward ceasing to be a minor;
(d) in the case of a female ward, by her marriage to a husband who is not unfit to be guardian of
her person or, if the guardian was appointed or declared by the Court, by her marriage to a husband
who is not, in the opinion of the Court, so unfit; or
(e) in the case of a ward whose father was unfit to be guardian of the person of the ward, by the
father ceasing to be so or, if the father was deemed by the Court to be so unfit, by his ceasing to be
so in the opinion of the Court.
(2) The powers of a guardian of the property cease—
(a) by his death, removal or discharge;
(b) by the Court of Wards assuming superintendence of the property of the ward; or
(c) by the ward ceasing to be a minor.
(3) When for any cause the powers of a guardian cease, the Court may require him or, if he is dead,
his representative to deliver as it directs any property in his possession or control belonging to the
ward or any accounts in his possession or control relating to any past or present property of the ward.
(4) When he has delivered the property or accounts as required by the Court, the Court may
declare him to be discharged from his liabilities save as regards any fraud which may subsequently be
discovered.
42. Appointment to successor to guardian dead, discharged or removed.—When a guardian
appointed or declared by the Cowl is discharged, or, under the law to which the ward is subject,
ceases to be entitled to act, or when any such guardian or a guardian appointed by will or other
instrument is removed or dies, the Court, of its own motion or on application under Chapter II, may, if
the ward is still a minor, appoint or declare another guardian of his person or property, or both, as the
case may be.
CHAPTER IV
SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS
43. Orders for regulating conduct or proceedings of guardians, and enforcement of those
orders.—
(1) The Court may, on the application of any person interested or of its own motion, make
an order regulating the conduct or proceedings of any guardian appointed or declared by the Court.
(2) Where there are more guardians than one of a ward, and they are unable to agree upon a
question affecting his welfare, any of them may apply to the Court for its direction, and the Court may
make such order respecting the matter in difference as it thinks fit.
(3) Except where it appears that the object of making an order under sub-section
(1) or
sub-section
(2) would be defeated by the delay, the Court shall, before making the order, direct notice
of the application therefor or of the intention of the Court to make it, as the case may be, to be given,
in a case under sub-section
(1), to the guardian or, in a case under sub-section
(2), to the guardian who
has not made the application
(4) In case of disobedience to an order made under sub-section
(1) or sub-section
(2), the order
may be enforced in the same manner as an injunction granted under section 492 or section 493 of the
Code of Civil Procedure (14 of 1882), in a case under sub-section
(1), as if the ward were the plaintiff
and the guardian were the defendant or, in a case under sub-section
(2), as if the guardian who made
the application were the plaintiff and the other guardian were the defendant.
14
(5) Except in a case under sub-section
(2), nothing in this section shall apply to a Collector who is,
as such, a guardian.
44. Penalty for removal of ward from jurisdiction.—If, for the purpose or with the effect of
preventing the Court from exercising its authority with respect to a ward, a guardian appointed or
declared by the Court removes the ward from the limits of the jurisdiction of the Court in
contravention of the provisions of section 26, he shall be liable, by order of the Court, to find not
exceeding one thousand rupees, or to imprisonment in the civil jail for a term which may extend to six
months.
45. Penalty for contumacy.—
(1) In the following cases, namely:—
(a) if a person having the custody of a minor fails to produce him or cause him to be produced
in compliance with a direction under section 12, sub-section
(1), or to do his utmost to compel the
minor to return to the custody of his guardian in obedience to an order under section 25,
sub-section
(1), or
(b) if a guardian appointed or declared by the Court fails to deliver to the Court, within the time
allowed by or under clause
(b) of section 34, a statement required under that clause, or to exhibit
accounts in compliance with a requisition under clause
(c) of that section, or to pay into the Court
the balance due from him on those accounts in compliance with a requisition under clause
(d) of
that section, or
(c) if a person who has ceased to be a guardian, or the representative of such a person, fails to
deliver any property or accounts in compliance with a requisition under section 41, sub-section
(3),
the person, guardian or representative, as the case may be, shall be liable, by order of the Court, to
fine not exceeding one hundred rupees, and in case of recusancy to further fine not exceeding ten
rupees for each day after the first during which the default continues, and not exceeding five hundred
rupees in the aggregate, and to detention in the civil jail until he undertakes to produce the minor or
cause him to be produced, or to compel his return, or to deliver the statement, or to exhibit the
accounts, or to pay the balance, or to deliver the property or accounts, as the case may be.
(2) If a person who has been released from detention on giving an undertaking under
sub-section
(1) fails to carry out the undertaking within the time allowed by the Court, the Court may
cause him to be arrested and re-committed to the civil jail.
46. Reports by Collectors and subordinate Courts.—
(1) The Court may call upon the Collector,
or upon any court subordinate to the Court, for a report on any matter arising in any proceeding under
this Act and treat the report as evidence.
(2) For the purpose of preparing the report the Collector or the Judge of the subordinate Court as
the case may be, shall make such inquiry as he deems necessary, and may for the pruposes of the
inquiry exercise any power of compelling the attendance of a witness to give evidence or produce a
document which is conferred on a Court by the 1Code of Civil Procedure (14 of 1882).
47. Orders appealable.— An appeal shall lie to the High Court from an order made by a 2***
Court,—
(a) under section 7, appointing or declaring or refusing to appoint or declare a guardian; or,
(b) under section 9, sub-section
(3), returning an application ; or,
1. See now the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908).
2. The word “District” rep. by Act 4 of 1926, s. 4.
15
(c) under section 25, making or refusing to make an order for the return of a ward to the
custody of his guardian; or,
(d) under section 26, refusing leave for, the removal of award from the limits of the jurisdiction
of the Court, or imposing conditions with respect thereto; or,
(e) under section 28 or section 29, refusing permission to a guardian to do an act referred to in
the section; or,
(f) under section 32, defining, restricting or extending the powers of a guardian ; or,
(g) under section 39, removing a guardian ; or,
(h) under section 40, refusing to discharge a guardian; or,
(i) under section 43, regulating the conduct or proceedings of a guardian or settling a matter in
difference between joint guardians, or enforcing the order ; or,
(j) under section 44 or section 45, imposing a penalty.
48. Finality of other orders.—Save as provided by the last foregoing section and by 1section 622
of the Code of Civil Procedure (14 of 1882), an order made under this Act shall be final and shall not
be liable to be contested by suit or otherwise.
49. Costs.—The costs of any proceeding under this Act, including the costs of maintaining a
guardian or other person in the civil jail, shall, subject to any rules made by the High Court under this
Act, be in the discretion of the Court in which the proceeding is had.
50. Power of High Court to make rules.—
(1) In addition to any other power to make rules
conferred expressly or impliedly by this Act, the High Court may from time to time make rules
consistent with this Act—
(a) as to the matters respecting which, and the time at which, reports should be called for from
Collectors and subordinate Courts;
(b) as to the allowances to be granted to, and the security to be required from, guardians, and
the cases in which such allowances should be granted;
(c) as to the procedure to be followed with respect to applications of guardians for permission
to do acts referred to in sections 28 and 29 ;
(d) as to the circumstances in which such requisitions as arc mentioned in clauses
(a),
(b),
(c)
and
(d) of section 34 should be made ;
(e) as to the preservation of statements and accounts delivered and exhibited by guardians ;
(ff) as to the inspection of those statements and accounts by persons interested ;
2
[(ff) as to the audit of accounts under section 34A, the class of persons who should be
appointed to audit accounts, and the scales of remuneration to be granted to them;]
(g) as to the custody of money, and securities for money, belonging to wards ;
(h) as to the securities on which money belonging to wards may be invested ;
(i) as to the education of wards for whom guardians, not being Collectors, have been appointed
or declared by the Court ; and,
(j) generally, for the guidance of the Courts in carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) Rules under clauses
(a) and
(1) of sub-section
(1) shall not have effect until they have been
approved by the State Government, nor shall any rule under this section have effect until it has been
published in the Official Gazette.
1. See now s. 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908).
2. Ins. by Act 17 of 1929, s. 3.
16
51. Applicability of Act to guardians already appointed by Court.—A guardian appointed by,
or holding a certificate of administration from, a Civil Court under any enactment repealed by this Act
shall, save as may be prescribed, be subject to the provisions of this Act, and of the rules made under
it, as if he had been appointed or declared by the Court under Chapter II.
52. [Amendment of Indian Majority Act.] Rep. by the Repealing Act, 1938 (1 of 1938), s. 2 and the
Schedule.
53. [Amendment of Chapter XXXI of the Code of Civil Procedure.] Rep. by the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), s. 156 and the Fifth Schedule.
THE SCHEDULE.—[Enactments repealed.] Rep. by the Repealing Act, 1938 (1 of 1938), s. 2 and
the Schedule.
______
17
