The main legal point established in the judgment is that an absolute bequest in a Will prevails over subsequent clauses, and when there is no triable issue, the court can proceed to pass a decree without trial.

Headnote:
WILL - INTERPRETATION - Indian Succession Act, 1925 - [SUMMARY]
Fact of the Case:

The case involves a dispute over the interpretation of a Will regarding the division of property among the descendants of the testator. The court analyzed the clauses of the Will and the rights of the parties involved.
Finding of the Court:

The court found that the Will provided an absolute bequest to the four children of the testator, and the subsequent clauses regarding the grandchildren were redundant and could not override the absolute bequest. The court held that there was no triable issue and proceeded to pass a decree without trial.
Issues: The main issue was the interpretation of the Will and the rights of the parties involved.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the absolute bequest in favor of the four children prevailed over subsequent clauses in the Will, and there was no triable issue left for the court to adjudicate.
Final Decision: The court upheld the judgment and decree, directing the sale of the property and the division of proceeds equally among the parties.

JUDGMENT

Saurabh Banerjee, J.

A Will will be a Will only when it will

lay to rest the wishes of who is at rest.

We will endeavor to proceed so that the Will of who lays at rest is put to rest.

1. The family tree of the parties involved, is as under:

                           Mrs. Sheila Kapila                    (Died: 08.04.2003/Will: 18.11.1999)                                     !                                    !         ---------------------------------------------------------         !                  !                   !                !   Mrs. Sudha          Mrs. Leela         Dr. Rajendra      Mr. Jitendra       Panda               Kapila               Kapila          Kapila         (Died: 10.11.2019)       (R4/D1)        (Died: 28.04.2021)    (R5/D2)          !                                      !         !                              -----------------         !                              !               !         !                    Mrs. Bina Kapila    Mrs. Deepti Saxena Kapila          !                        1st Wife:        (2nd Wife/No children)          !                         Divorced)               (R6/D3)          !                              !         !                    -----------------------         !                    !                     !         !          Mr. Vikrant Kapila     Ms. Gitanjali Kapila          !                (A1/D4)                (A2/D5)          !    ----------------------------------------------------------------    !                      !                    !                  !  Ms. Pankaja      Mr. Prasanjit Panda  Mr. Pradyut Panda  Mr. Udayan Panda   Panda (R1/P1)        (R2/P2)                (R3/P3)      (Died: 16.11.2019)

2. By virtue of the present appeal, appellants challenge the judgment and preliminary decree dated 10.05.2022¹ whereby the Learned Single Judge, based upon the Will of late Mrs. Sheila Kapila² , after demarcating the 25% equal share of all her four children in the property bearing No. D-897, New friends Colony, New Delhi, admeasuring 471 Sq. Yards³ , has put the same to sale and distributed the proceeds thereof equally amongst them.

3. The sole issue for consideration before us hinges upon the interpretation of one sanguine document-Will dated 18.11.1999⁴ , which, being admitted by all parties, is not under challenge. Relevant clauses for purposes of adjudication of disputes inter-se parties, being clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of the said Will, are as under:

"i. The house shall belong to all the four children with each having 25% share in the property.

ii. The beneficiaries will not have any power to dispose of their share of the property in any manner whatsoever. They will have the right to enjoy their share of the property but will not have the right to make any Will with respect to their share.

iii. If any of the four beneficiaries die then his/her share of property shall devolve upon his/her children who will have the full ownership of the property with the power of disposal. However, if the children of the deceased beneficiary intend to dispose off their share of the property then they shall first offer it to the other beneficiaries of their children in case they are dead." (emphasis added)

The rest of the clauses, being jointly applicable to all the parties, are not relevant for the purposes of the present dispute.

4. Admittedly, there is no dispute qua the division of the equal 25% share of the four children in the Property, be it by way of testamentary succession in terms of the Will or by way of intestate succession in terms of the Indian Succession Act, 1925⁵ .

5. As per brief facts, respondent nos. 1 to 3 instituted a suit for partition of the Property belonging to the Testator pleading that the said Testator died intestate on 08.04.2003 leaving behind four children, namely Mrs. Sudha Panda, Mrs. Leela Kapila, Dr. Rajendra Kapila and Mr. Jitendra Kapila. Upon her demise, the said four children inherited 25% equal share in her a