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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
AMIT BANSAL, J.
Dharam Vir – Petitioner
Versus
State (Govt. of NCT Delhi) – Respondent
TEST. CAS. No. 79 of 2015, I.A. No. 11413 of 2021
Decided On : 21-12-2022
Indian Succession Act - Probate of Will - Sections 276 & 278 - 59, 61 - The court discussed the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, specifically Sections 59 and 61, and highlighted the fundamental guiding principles for adjudication of a Will as elucidated by the Supreme Court in H. Venkatachala Iyengar vs. B.N. Thimmajamma, AIR 1959 SC 453 and Kavita Kanwar vs. Pamela Mehta and Others, (2021) 11 SCC 209. The court emphasized the need to prove the due and valid execution of the Will and the requirement to remove any suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of the Will.
Fact of the Case:
The Petitioner filed a petition seeking probate of the Will executed by the Testator. The Objectors challenged the closing of their right to file objections, and various suspicious circumstances regarding the Will were highlighted.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the Will was surrounded by a large number of unexplained suspicious circumstances, and the Petitioner failed to satisfy the court that the Will was signed by the Testator out of his own free will or that the Testator was of sound and disposing state of mind at the time of execution of the Will. Therefore, the court dismissed the petition for probate of the Will.
Issues: The issues revolved around the validity of the Will, the suspicious circumstances surrounding its execution, and the failure of the Petitioner to satisfy the court regarding the genuineness and validity of the Will.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the need to prove the due and valid execution of the Will and the requirement to remove any suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of the Will. The onus of proving the Will is on the propounder, and the propounder must lead credible evidence to show that the Will executed by the Testator was a legally valid document.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the petition for probate of the Will, stating that the subject Will cannot be probated from any standpoint due to the unexplained suspicious circumstances surrounding it.
JUDGMENT :
AMIT BANSAL, J.
1. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner under Sections 276 & 278 of Indian Succession Act, 1925 for grant of probate of the Will dated 28th December, 2013 executed by Late Sh. Manmohan Singh Kohli (hereinafter referred as “Testator”).
2. It has been stated in the petition that the Testator did not have any legal heirs and therefore, the Government of NCT of Delhi was the sole respondent in the present petition. Notice in the petition was issued on 29th February, 2016. After the publication of the citations, the counsels for the Objectors namely Jatinder Singh and Jyoti Singh appeared before Court on 19th October, 2017 and 10th October, 2017 respectively.
3. The counsels for the Objectors failed to file/refile objections despite repeated opportunities being given to them. In view thereof, the right of the Objectors to file objections was closed vide order dated 14th May, 2018 passed by the Joint Registrar. Appeals filed on behalf of the Objectors challenging the closing of their right to file objections were dismissed by the Coordinate Bench as well as the Division Bench of this Court.
4. Case set up by the Petitioner in the present petition is as under:
4.2 The Testator executed an unregistered Will dated 28th December, 2013 bequeathing subject property, and all the funds in the Bank Account bearing No. 09324500123 with State Bank of Patiala, Mall Road Branch, Patiala along with the Locker bearing No. 265/15 in the said Bank, in favour of the Petitioner. The aforesaid Will was witnessed by two attesting witnesses namely Sh. Naresh Kohli and Sh. Sanjay Dutt.
4.3 The Testator passed away on 11th February, 2014.
4.4 The Testator was of sound state of mind at the time of execution of the aforesaid Will and the same was executed by him voluntarily and without any influence.
5. Accordingly, the present petition has been filed seeking probate of the Will dated 28th December, 2013 executed by the Testator in respect of his estate.
6. Five witnesses, namely the petitioner himself (PW-1), Sh. Naresh Kohli (PW-2), Sh. Badal Kumar (PW-3), Mr. Ram Mohan Shukla (PW-4) and Sanjay Dutt (PW-5) were examined on behalf of the Petitioner. The aforesaid witnesses were also cross-examined by the counsels for the Objectors.
7. It has been vehemently submitted on behalf of the Petitioner that since no objections have been filed on behalf of the Objectors, they had no right to cross-examine the Petitioner. This objection was duly noted by the Joint Registrar in his order dated 25th November, 2019. On behalf of the Objectors, it was submitted that even though their right to file objections had been closed, the Objectors still had the right to cross-examine the Petitioner and his witnesses. It was also noted that the Objectors had already cross-examined four witnesses of the Petitioner and had also partially cross-examined the Petitioner.
8. When the matter came up before the court on 23rd December, 2019, the submission of the counsel for the Petitioner was noted that he does not press his objection that the Objectors have no right to cross-examine the Petitioner and his witnesses. Noting the aforesaid, the matter was placed before the Joint Registrar for continuing the cross-examination.
9. In view of the above, having given up his objections with regard to the right of the Objectors to cross-examine the witnesses of the Petitioner, the Petitioner cannot reagitate the said issue again. Therefore, there is no merit in the submission of the Petitioner that cross-examination should be disregarded.
10. Senior counsel appearing on behalf of the Objectors has highlighted various suspicious circumstances regarding the subject Will. On the other hand, the senior counsel for the Petitioner submits that there
The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement to prove the due and valid execution of a Will and the need to remove any suspicious circumstances surrounding its execution in ord....
The propounder of a Will must remove all suspicious circumstances to validate its execution; failure to do so results in dismissal of probate applications.
The propounder of a Will must satisfactorily dispel all suspicious circumstances regarding its validity, particularly when substantial benefits accrue to them, or the Will may be deemed invalid.
The propounder of a will must remove all suspicious circumstances surrounding its execution, particularly when natural heirs are excluded from the bequest. Failure to prove due execution and disregar....
The need to remove all legitimate suspicions before a document can be accepted as the last will of the testator.
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