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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
DHARMESH SHARMA
Rama Alagh – Appellant
Versus
State (Govt. Of NCT of Delhi) – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
DHARMESH SHARMA, J.
1. This First Appeal has been preferred under Section 299 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 [“The Act”] by three sisters, the third one now being represented through her legal heirs, assailing the impugned judgment dated 24.05.2007 passed by the learned Additional District Judge, Delhi [“Probate Court”], whereby the second Will propounded by them dated 16.06.1992 executed by their late father, Shri Jagdish Chander Mehra [“testator”] has been found to be forged and fabricated, and on the other hand, the first Will dated 31.01.1989 propounded by respondent No.2, Smt. Savita Malhotra, the daughter-in-law of the deceased testator, in favour of respondents No. 3 to 6 has been probated and held to be the last legally executed Will of the testator.
FACTUAL MATRIX:
2. Briefly stated, the testator was admittedly the owner of the property bearing No. D-1/24-25, Lajpat Nagar-I, New Delhi-110049 [“subject property”] who passed away on 20.01.1993 leaving behind his one son, namely respondent No.4 Mr. Ashok Malhotra, widow of his second son viz., respondent No.5 Savita Malhotra and her children, besides three daughters, namely appellant No.1, Smt. Rama Alagh, appellan
The burden of proving the validity of a contested Will lies with the propounder, and suspicious circumstances surrounding its execution must be satisfactorily explained.
The validity of a Will requires clear evidence of revocation of prior Wills and the testator's mental fitness at execution; suspicious circumstances must be adequately addressed.
Probate of a Will requires strict compliance with statutory formalities, including attestation by witnesses; failure to provide adequate proof leads to dismissal of the application.
The court found that the application for probate was barred by limitation, and the alleged Will was not duly executed, failing to meet statutory requirements.
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 validity of a Will is determined by the testator's capacity and the absence of suspicious circumstances; the burden lies with propounders to prove legitimacy.
The central legal point established in the judgment is the significance of complying with the formalities for the execution and attestation of Wills, as mandated by the Indian Succession Act. The cou....
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