The requirements for valid attestation of a will under Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act and Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act do not necessitate a particular form of attestation. Signatures of witnesses towards the end of the instrument, without an explicit statement of their presence, are sufficient to establish valid attestation.

Shambhu Prasad Singh, J.

1. This appeal by the objectors is directed against an order granting letters of Administration of a registered will dated 27th of September. 1948 of Rai Kumar Dubey. After an application for probate of the said will was made by the respondent, the appellants entered appearance and filed a petition objecting to the said prayer. The application for probate was, thereafter, converted into a title suit. On the date, however, it was taken up for hearing, the appellants did not appear to contest the suit and the matter was taken up ex parte. One witness, Siujag Tewari, was examined on behalf of the respondent. By mistake his evidence has not been included in the paper book. The evidence included in the paper book is of a witness who was examined for the respondent at the valuation stage. Siujag Tewari has stated in his evidence that Rambeyas Choubey scribed the will according to the instruction of Raj Kumar Dubey, the testator. The contents of the will were read out and explained to the testator in presence of the witnesses and the testator put his pen mark on the will by way of execution and the scribe signed for him at his request, in presence of this witness and other witnesses. This witness and the other witnesses signed the will as attesting witnesses in presence of the testator. He has also proved the will and the signatures thereon. The application filed by the respondent was also in order and fulfilled all the requirements of law. In the circumstances, it cannot be said that the court below erred in passing the impugned order.

2. Mr. Nakuleshwar Prasad, learned counsel for the appellants, has however, contended that no letters of Administration should have been granted to the respondent inasmuch as the will was not properly attested. According to him, since the persons who are witnesses to the will have not stated on the document itself that they put their signature in presence of the testator, the will was not properly attested. Learned Counsel does not appear to be correct in his submission. Sec. 63 (c) of the Indian Succession Act runs as follows:-

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"The will shall be attested by two or more witnesses each of whom has seen the testator sign or affix his mark to the will or has seen some other person sign the will, in the presence and by the direction of the testator or has received from the testator a personal acknowledgment of his signature or mark, or of the signature of such other person, and each of the witnesses shall sign the will in the presence of the testator, but it shall not be necessary that more than one witness be present at the same tune, and no- particular form of attestation shall be necessary."

The term attested has also been defined in Sec.3 of the Transfer of Property Act and requirements of a valid attestation are same both in the Indian Succession Act and the Transfer of Property Act. Sec. 59 of the Transfer of Property Act requires that a deed of mortgage should be attested by at least two witnesses. Dealing with attestation of a mortgage in Abinash Chandra Bidyanidhi Bhattacharjee V/s. Dasarath Malo, AIR 1929 Cal 123, Rankin, C. J., said:

"Now, the word "attested" Is the word to be defined because that word when it is used in the Statute with reference to an instrument is really a shorthand expression and the meaning of it is given at length in this Act -- Act 27 of 1926. The word "attested" occurs not merely as the thing to be defined but as a part of the definition or explanation and it remains, therefore, to enquire in cases such as the present, what is meant by saying that a document has been attested or that its execution has been attested. In my judgment, the matter is reasonably clear. A person may be a witness to the execution of a mortgage or a will and yet may not have written his name at the time by way of saying that he was a witness it is quite clear that in India no formal attestation clause is necessary. Ordinarily a string of signatures towards the