Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : This is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of the Assam High Court in a probate matter. The main appellant is Rani Purnima Debi widow of Kumar Chandra Narayan Deb (hereinafter called the testator), who died in June 1946. The second appellant is the testator s married daughter. An application was made by Kumar Khagendra Narayan Deb (hereinafter referred to as the respondent) before the District Delegate, Gauhati in August 1946 for grant of letters of administration with the will annexed. The case of the respondent was that the testator had executed a will on December 29, 1943, in favour of the respondent by which the testator gave his entire property to the respondent subject to the respondent s maintaining the testator s widow and sister. Objections were filed on behalf of the appellants to the grant of letters of administration on the basis of the will propounded by the respondent and three main grounds were urged in that connection, namely (i) that the will was not duly and legally executed and attested, (ii) that the testator had no sound disposing mind at the time he executed the will, and (iii) that the will was the outcome of undue influence and coercion exercised by the respondent. While the application of the respondent was pending, another application or probate of another will said to have been executed by the testator a few months before his death was made by Kumar Dwijendra Narayan Deb. The appellants objected to that will also on the same grounds and further added that that will was a forgery. Dwijendra Narayan Deb did not dispute the execution of the will in favour of the respondent but contended that that will had been revoked by the later will in his favour. The respondent, however, contended that the will in favour of Kumar Dwijendra Narayan Deb was a forgery.

2. The two suits arising out of the two applications for probate were eventually tried together by the Subordinate Judge at Gauhati. He held that the will propounded by Kumar Dwijendra Narayan Deb was not genuine and therefore dismissed his application. As to the will propounded by the respondent it was held that it was duly executed and attested and was made by the testator at a time when he had sound disposing state of mind and that it was not made under any undue influence and coercion. Consequently the application of the respondent was allowed and letters of administration with the copy of the will annexed were ordered to be issued to him.

3. This was followed by three appeals to the High Court. One of the appeals was by the present appellants and they contested the issue of letters of administration in favour of the respondent; the other two appeals were by Kumar Dwijendra Narayan Deb. By one appeal he contested the issue of letters of administration to the respondent and by the other he contested the finding of the Subordinate Judge that the will propounded by him was not genuine. The three appeals were heard by the High Court together and it upheld the finding of the trial court that the will in favour of Dwijendra Narayan was not genuine; in consequence, the two appeals filed by him were dismissed. This order of the High Court has become final and we are not concerned in the present appeal with the will propounded by Dwijendra Narayan. In the appeal by the appellants, the High Court upheld the findings of the trial court and dismissed the appeal. The High Court was conscious of the fact that there were certain suspicious circumstances attending the execution of the will in favour of the respondent; but it held that as the will propounded by the respondent was later registered in January 1944, the suspicion attending the execution of the will was dispelled by the fact of registration. The High Court therefore held that due execution and attestation of the will had been proved and it was also proved that the testator was of sound disposing state of mind at the time of the execution and that there was no undue influe