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2005 Supreme(Cal) 458

High Court Of Calcutta
RAJENDRA NATH SINHA
CHUNIBALA BARUI - Appellant
Versus
LAKSHMIMANT ADHLKARY - Respondent
FA 391 Of 1982
Decided On : 07/22/2005

Advocates Appeared:
ANIT KUMAR RAKSHIT, S.P.ROYCHOWDHURY

A Probate Court can revoke a grant of Letters of Administration if it appears that the grant was obtained without proper citation to the persons entitled to receive such citation, even if the person who brought the matter to the Court's attention had no locus standi to contest the grant.

Headnote:

REVOCATION OF GRANT OF LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION - INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT, 1925 - SECTIONS 263, 15(2) - Locus standi of respondents to file revocation application - Grant of Letters of Administration without notice to the State - Probate Court's power to revoke grant - Effect of respondents' lack of locus standi on fresh disposal of proceedings.

Fact of the Case:

Appellant obtained Letters of Administration of the estate of Sitaram Das Bairagya based on an alleged Will. Respondents, claiming to be legal representatives of Nani Gopal Adhikari, filed an application for revocation of the grant, alleging that the property devolved upon them through the heirs of Subhasini, Sitaram's wife.

Finding of the Court:

The District Judge held that the respondents had no locus standi to file the revocation application but allowed the application on the ground that the grant of Letters of Administration was defective as no notice was given to the State of West Bengal, to whom the property would have devolved in the absence of any heirs.

Issues: 1. Whether the respondents had locus standi to file the revocation application. 2. Whether the grant of Letters of Administration was defective due to the lack of notice to the State.

Ratio Decidendi: 1. The respondents did not have locus standi to file the revocation application as they were not natural heirs of the testator and could not lawfully claim inheritance through his wife due to Section 15(2) of the Hindu Succession Act. 2. The grant of Letters of Administration was defective as the Court failed to issue a citation to the State, which was a necessary party in the proceedings due to the possibility of intestate succession.

Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed, but the Court directed that the respondents would have no right to oppose the grant in the fresh disposal of the proceedings for grant of Letters of Administration.

BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA, J.

( 1 ) THIS first appeal is at the instance of a respondent in the proceedings for revocation of grant of Letters of Administration and is directed against order dated 12th April, 1979 passed by the learned District Judge, hooghly in Revocation Case No. 91 of 1977 thereby allowing the said application and revoking the Letters of Administration earlier granted by the said Court to the present appellant by order dated 21st July, 1977 in act 39, Case No. 145 of 1975. The following facts are not in dispute :

( 2 ) ONE Sitaram Das Bairagya, the testator, died on 15th February, 1965 leaving his widow Subhasini who died one month and three days after the death of her husband. The present appellant on 18th January, 1973 started the proceedings for grant of the Letters of Administration being Act 39 case No. 90 of 1973 in the Court of the district Delegate for the purpose of obtaining the Letters of Administration of the estate of Sitaram Bairagya. His case was that sitaram and executed an registered Will in the year 1943 under which all his properties would go to the person who would look after him and his wife during their last days and perform their last rites. According to the appellant, he was brought up by Sitaram and Subhasini as their son from his youth and he looked after them in their last days and he also performed their last rites.

( 3 ) ONE Narendra Mondal and seven others claiming to be the actual occupiers of the disputed property challenged the genuineness of the Will before the learned district Delegate and as such, the learned district Delegate returned the application to the present appellant for presentation before the district Judge.

( 4 ) SUBSEQUENTLY, the appellant filed his application before the District Judge on 19th december, 1975 thereby giving rise to Act 39 Case No. 142 of 1975. In the said application nobody was shown as next kin of the deceased and as such, only general citations were issued. Nobody turned up to contest the claim of the present appellant and ultimately, the Court ex parte granted the Letters of Administration in his favour.

( 5 ) SUBSEQUENTLY, on 24th August, 1977, the present respondents claiming to be legal representative of Nani Gopal Adhikari prayed for setting aside the grant of Letters of Administration. According to the respondents, the property in question devolved upon them through the heirs of Subhasini.

( 6 ) THE aforesaid application was resisted by the present appellant contending that the respondents had no locus standi to file the said application for revocation and that there was no just cause for revocation.

( 7 ) BY the order impugned herein, the learned District Judge held that the respondents could not be said to be the heirs of the testator, inasmuch as, on the death of the testator, though, the property devolved upon Subhasini, his wife, she being a childless widow, on her death, the property went back to the heirs of Sitaram. According to the learned trial Judge Sitaram had no heir alive and as such, the property should be escheated in terms of the provisions of the hindu Succession Act and, therefore, notice ought to have been given to the State of west Bengal. The learned District Judge further held that the circumstances surrounding the Will were not happy; the Will, according to the appellant, was executed in the year 1943 whereas the appellant came to this country from East Bengal in 1947. It was further pointed out that though Sitaram died in 1965, the Letters of Administration was sought only in 1973. It further appeared that the appellant purchased a portion of the estate left by Sitaram from Nani Gopal by using the name of his two wives and thereafter, he sold the property to one krishna Chandra Sadhukhan and thus, it was unnatural for him to apply for letters of administration on the basis of the alleged will which conferred ownership of the property upon him when the appellant himself in the past purchased a portion of the p












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