Sanjib Banerjee, J.

1. The wife of the alleged testator has applied for dismissal of the probate proceedings on the ground that the application for grant of probate is barred by the principles of res judicata. The propounder has died during the pendency of the application but the beneficiaries under the alleged will resist the untimely challenge. Some of the beneficiaries have also applied for conversion of the application for grant of probate to one for the grant of letters of administration in their favour.

2. The alleged testator died on June 19, 1995. The propounder, now deceased, instituted proceedings under section 276 of the Indian Succession Act before the District Delegate at Alipore seeking to assert an alleged Will of June 6, 1995. The propounder was appointed administrator pendente lite by an order of September 13, 1995 in Probate Case No.279 of 1995. The applicant herein objected to the grant whereupon the matter was set down as a contentious cause and renumbered as OS 10 of 1996,

It appears from the extract of the order sheet relating to such deemed suit that on March 6, 2002 the plaintiff was unrepresented when the matter was taken up whereupon the plaintiff