Section 5: The words "of India" omitted by Act 42 of 1953, s. 4 and Sch. III
Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 5
Section 5 codifies the cardinal private international law dichotomy governing succession: immovable property in India is regulated strictly by Indian law (lex loci rei sitae), whereas movable property is regulated by the law of the country where the deceased had his domicile at the time of his death (lex domicilii).
A foreign court possesses no jurisdiction to determine the title, devolution, or transmission of Indian land, nor can a foreign testamentary disposition bypass statutory restrictions or personal succession rules enforceable in India.
Sub-section (2) incorporates the doctrine of lex domicilii for movable assets, following the maxim mobilia sequuntur personam (movables follow the person). Succession to movable property—including shares, securities, bank balances, debts, and personal chattels—wherever situated, is determined by the law of the deceased's domicile at the exact date of their death. If an individual dies domiciled in England leaving bank deposits in Mumbai, succession to those deposits is governed by English succession law, whereas Indian real estate owned by the same decedent remains governed by Indian succession laws.
Section 5 is the primary operational anchor in international estate administration. In cases involving Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) or foreign nationals holding diversified portfolios across multiple countries, practitioners must bifurcate the estate into immovable and movable assets. While succession to Indian real estate must satisfy Indian statutory formalities and succession certificates, movable accounts may require ancillary probate or administration grants founded upon the succession laws of the deceased's last foreign domicile.