Under section 6(a) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, who is the natural guardian of a…

Section 6(a) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act gives the father and "after him" the mother priority for a legitimate boy, with "after" read as absence in Githa Hariharan (1999). Section 6(b) gives an illegitimate boy’s mother priority instead, so the father-first rule cannot be applied indiscriminately to every boy.