IMPORTANT POINT
Probate case – Court cannot go to aid of such a person who is on a treasure hunt.

JUDGMENT :

PANKAJ MITHAL, J.

1. This is a peculiar and an interesting case but with nothing to be adjudicated upon by us.

2. One Rev. Salusbury Fynes Davenport, who possessed vast properties, died on 24.01.1972 at Udhagamandalam, Ooty. During his lifetime, he had executed a Will dated 19.07.1969 appointing respondent No.3 - M/s King and Partridge as the executor of the Will. A senior partner of the said firm, Mr. Chakravarthy Duraisamy, in furtherance of his responsibility as the executor in the Will, applied under Section 222(1) and 272 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, for grant of probate in respect of the aforesaid Will.

3. In the probate case No.15 of 1972, the court at Ooty granted probate vide order dated 29.07.1972 in favour of the executor. The executor filed an inventory with the court on 20.01.1973 which was recorded on 24.01.1973. Finally, the executor submitted final accounts in the matter on 09.07.1973 which were recorded on 17.07.1973.

4. The matter with regard to the probate of the aforesaid Will dated 19.07.1969 of Rev. Salusbury Fynes Davenport came to at rest as above.

5. Later on 30.01.2016, Smt. Mary Brigit (now deceased) applied for the copy of the probate of the aforesaid Will. She, as the copy was not supplied, preferred a Writ Petition No.11266 of 2018 praying for a direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondents to furnish the probate copy granted in O.P. No.15 of 1972 on the file of respondent i.e. the Office of the District Judge, Ooty, and to pass such other or other orders that may be deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.

6. In the aforesaid Writ Petition, a counter-affidavit was filed on behalf of the executor named in the Will M/s King and Partridge through P. Ranganatha Reddy, a senior partner in the said firm at the relevant time. He stated that he had joined the firm in January, 1992, as a consultant advocate and was inducted as a partner in 1999. The other partners of the firm have also joined after 1999. Since the petitioner through the medium of the Writ Petition seeks relief in respect of the documents of O.P. No.15 of 1972, she should approach the concerned court. The probate was obtained by the executor through (late) Mr. Chakravarthy Duraisamy, who at the relevant time, was the senior partner of the firm. The said partner retired in the year 1987 and died in the year 1988. He further stated that the petitioner and her daughters met him for the first time in 2013 and requested to return the copy of the Will and the papers relating to the case. Since, the matter was old and he was not aware of it, he got a thorough search made of the old records but could not succeed to find a single paper relating to the above proceedings. Accordingly, he advised the petitioner and her daughters to obtain the original Will and the copy of the probate and other documents from the district court. He further stated that late Chakravarthy Duraisamy, then the senior partner in the firm, had faithfully discharged his obligation as per the Will by obtaining the order of probate and by submitting the accounts to the court.

7. On behalf of the district court, a separate counter-affidavit was filed in the aforesaid writ petition and it was accepted that O.P. No.15 of 1972 was filed in the Sub Court of Udhagamandalam on 07.07.1972 by Mr. Chakravarthy Duraisamy, partner of M/s King and Partridge for issuance of probate in respect of Will dated 19.07.1969 executed by Rev. Salusbury Fynes Davenport. The probate petition was allowed and the probate was ordered to be issued on 29.07.1972. The Original Petition with connected records were destroyed after complying with the procedure prescribed under Destruction of Records Act, 1917, upon due notification in the Nilgiris District Gazette. The available records and registers could not reveal if the Will was returned to the executor who applied for the probate or it was enclosed with the probate order. There is no reference of the destr