The central legal point established in the judgment is that the Will conformed to the requirements of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and was found to be genuine, containing the last wishes of the Testator, duly executed and attested, satisfying the requirements of the law.

Jayanandan Singh, J.

1. Applicant has filed this application under Section 276 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") for grant of Probate in respect of the Will executed by his father Late Prayag Lal Sao @ Prayag Sao (Testator). In the application, it is stated that the Testator was a Hindu governed by the Mitakshara School of Hindu Law and was permanent resident of village Bankarpur Bank, P.S. and District- Sheikhpura, within the jurisdiction of this Court. It is stated that the Testator died on 30.6.1986 at 5.00 P.M. at his permanent residence at Sheikhpura. It is stated that before his death, considering his advance age and while he was in sound health, body and mind, he decided to execute a Will. Accordingly, he executed the Will on 28.5.1986 and got the same attested by three witnesses in his presence. Copy of the Will has been attached with the petition.

2. It is also stated in the application that the Testator left behind his widow, four sons and five daughters, as named in paragraph 6 of the application. In the Will, all his four sons were appointed as Executors. List of immoveable assets and schedule of debts (Funeral Expenses) have been annexed with the application as Annexures- A and B respectively. It has been specifically stated that the Will was the last Will of the Testator and it was duly executed. In the application the details of the desire of the Testator in respect of mode and manner of administration of his Estate have been narrated. It is stated that the Testator himself had got the Will attested by three witnesses, namely, Naresh Sharma, Shanti Devi and Heera Lal.

3. The applicant filed a supplementary affidavit on 24.10.2008 stating that he had earlier filed Test Case No. 7 of 2008 for grant of probate of the present Will, but there were several defects in the said application and therefore, he withdrew the said application on 7.8.2008 with liberty to file fresh application. Accordingly, the present application has been filed on 21.8.2008.

4. Probate Duty of Rs. 16,800/- was deposited by the applicant on 15.4.2009 through challan. Thereafter, by order of the Court dated 10.7.2009, general citation in two newspapers, namely, Patna editions of "The Times of India" and Hindi Daily "Aaj" were published on 12.8.2009 and 11.8.2009 respectively. Special citations were also issued to the Near Relatives on 4.12.2009. Applicant thereafter filed Examination-in-Chief of three witnesses on affidavit.

5. Two attesting witnesses, namely, Naresh Sharma and Heera Lal were examined as A.W.1 and A.W.2 respectively on 5.2.2010. Applicant Ashok Kumar Saw was examined as A.W.3 on 19.2.2010.

6. In view of the defect pointed out by the office in the application, the applicant filed an amendment application on 3.2.2011, stating therein that other three sons of the Testator are beneficiaries and are named executors also in the Will. It was stated that they have been made Near Relatives and they have appeared and filed No. objection. However, since all the sons of the Testator have been made Executors, applicant prayed for amendment in the main application by adding them as applicant Nos. 2, 3 and 4. The said prayer was allowed by the Court on 11.2.2011.

7. As stated earlier, list of assets and schedule of funeral expenses are annexed with the application as Annexures-A and B respectively and it is stated that the applicants have been appointed Executors of the Will. It is also stated that the deceased died while living at his permanent residence at Sheikhpura within the jurisdiction of this Court. It is stated that the original Will is being filed in the Court separately in a sealed cover. In the circumstances, this Court finds that the application filed by the applicants under Section 276 of the Act is in accordance with the requirements of law.

8. Inspite of publication of general citation in newspapers and service of special citation of the Near Relatives, No. one has appeared and