4 Historical Development of Nepalese Family Law

1. The shastric-customary era: family life governed by Hindu religious law (the mitakshara-style joint family, son-preference in inheritance, marriage as sacrament) layered over local custom — a plurality without codification; 2. The Muluki Ain, 1910 BS (1854): the first national code — the family chapters (marriage, partition, inheritance, adoption) written with caste hierarchy; the joint family and agnatic succession codified; women's rights as dependence (stridhan's absence, the widow's limited position); 3. The Muluki Ain, 2020 BS (1963): the great recodification — the "new" Ain's family chapters (the Chapter on Husband and Wife, Partition, Inheritance, Adoption): caste hierarchy formally dismantled (the muluki panji system abolished), monogamy mandated, judicial divorce introduced (fault-based, gender-asymmetric at first), daughters given a limited share (unmarried daughters a share on partition, returnable on marriage — the system Meera Dhungana's case would challenge); 4. The amendment era: the 11th Amendment (enacted 2058 BS, in force 2059 BS / 2002) — the gender-equality package (daughter's equal share by birth; the widow's and the divorced wife's property position reformed; daughters' consent to family partition recognized); the Gender Equality Act, 2063 (2006) — the remaining discriminations struck (the "return on marriage" condition abolished; women's consent rights; the jari-era provisions fully buried); 5. The constitutional era: the Interim Constitution 2063 and the Constitution 2072 — family equality as fundamental right (Articles 18(5),…