A. INTRODUCTORY

1. The Plaintiff is the executor of a Will dated 16th March 1977 said to have been left by one Rameshchandra Jamnadas Dalal (“Ramesh”). The beneficiaries of the Will are Ramesh’s wife, Nayana, since deceased, their son, Sanjay; and their daughter, Varsha, the Defendant. As the following judgment will show, the opposition to the probate entered by Varsha is limited.

2. I have heard both Mr. Pai for the Defendant and Mr. Shah for the Plaintiff at some length and, with their assistance, considered the material on record. In my judgment, and for the reasons that follow, I have not been able to find a tenable basis for the opposition. I have decreed the Suit and allowed the Petition for probate.

3. Mr. Pai has taken a plea of limitation, on which a separate issue was framed, and I propose to address that before I proceed to a consideration of the evidence and the other issues. On this issue, too, I have found for the Plaintiff and against the Defendant.

B. THE DALAL FAMILY

4. Ramesh died on 12th August 1979, a little over two years after he made his Will. He die