Under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, the exclusion of Renoncants applies to:

Section 3(2A) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 excludes from the Act "the Renoncants of the Union territory of Pondicherry", persons of the former French settlements who had renounced their personal law. The exclusion is confined to Pondicherry (now Puducherry) and does not extend to Tamil Nadu or the former Portuguese territories.