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SATHISH NINAN
Madhavi (Died; LRs. Impleaded) W/o Late Balakrishnan – Appellant
Versus
Bhagyam W/o Raghavan – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
SATHISH NINAN, J.
1. This Regular Second Appeal is by the plaintiff in a suit for declaration of title and injunction.
2. The plaint schedule property having an extent of 42 cents belonged to late V. Balakrishnan. The plaintiff is his wife. The defendant is the daughter born to Balakrishnan in his first wife. Plaintiff claims title over the property under Ext.A3 Will dated 26.11.2004 executed by Balakrishnan.
3. The defendant challenged the genuineness of Ext.A3 Will.
4. To prove the Will, the plaintiff examined one of its attestors viz. Velayudhan, as PW2. The trial court held that the evidence of PW2 does not prove compliance with the requirement under Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act. Accordingly, Ext.A3 Will was held against. It was also found that the suit is bad for non joinder of necessary parties viz. the non-impleadment of the other legal heirs of the testator. The suit was dismissed. The decree was confirmed in appeal.
5. Heard learned Counsel Sri.T.M.Chandran on behalf of the appellant-plaintiff and Sri.Sajan Varghese, the learned counsel for the respondent-defendant, on the following substantial questions of law:
The courts ruled that the failure to prove the valid execution and attestation of a Will invalidates claims of property based on it, emphasizing statutory requirements for witness testimony.
The execution of a will must strictly adhere to statutory requirements, including valid attestation by witnesses, and mere registration does not suffice to validate a will in the presence of suspicio....
A Will can be validated by the testimony of one attesting witness if it meets the statutory requirements, even if the other witness is unavailable or does not support the execution.
The burden of proof for the execution of a Will lies with the propounder, who must establish compliance with statutory requirements, including the testimony of attesting witnesses.
The burden to prove the validity of a Will lies with the propounder, and failure to meet statutory requirements results in its invalidation.
The propounder of a Will must prove its execution and attestation in accordance with law, and any suspicious circumstances surrounding the Will must be dispelled for it to be considered valid.
Sections 68 of Indian Evidence Act reads as proof of execution of document required by law to be attested.
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