A person who claims a share in the property of a testator as an heir to the testator has an interest in the estate of the testator that entitles them to intervene in probate proceedings, even if they dispute the title of the testator to the property.

1. This is an application filed by the plaintiff to discharge the caveat filed by the defendants.

2. The affidavit filed in support of the application runs as follows:

(a) O.P. No. 471/88 on the file of this Court is for grant of probate in respect of the Will dated 1-11-1987 executed by the deceased Saravanan. Three of the daughters had given their consent for grant of probate. Citation was issued to two of the sons of the applicant, namely, M.S. Selvadurai and M.S. Rajakumar, who are the defendants who entered caveat and are contesting the proceedings. The third son Ravi Shankar is not opposing the probate. In view of the objections raised by the respondents O.P. No. 471/88 was converted into T.O.S. No. 8/90.

(b) The respondents have filed their written statement and in para 3 they have stated as follows:

“At the outset, these defendants submit that the plaintiff had no locus standi to probate the Will alleged to have been executed by her husband Mr. M.S. Saravanan as she had not been vested with any absolute interest in the alleged Will. These defendants submit that a clear reading of the alleged Will would go to show that the property bearing No. 115, T.S.V. Koil street, Mylapore, Madras-4 is an ancestral property of the deceased Saravanan. These defendants have got 1/4th share in the ancestral property bearing No. 115. T.S.V. Koil Street, Mylapore. These defendants state that t hey have children and that they also have a right in the said property by birth.”

(c) The defendants/respondents are not only opposing the applicants locus standi to pray for grant of probate, but they are also disputing the title of the testator contending that the subject matter of the Will is an ancestral property and that they have got a share in the property apart from entitlement by birth. As per the provisions of Section 283 of the Indian Succession Act only those persons who are having interest in the estate of the testator are entitled to take part and contest the proceedings. Any person who disputes the title of the testator to the property or any part of the property is disqualified from contesting the proceedings and such a person has no right to agitate the same in the probate proceedings. In as much as the respondents/defendants are claiming the property as ancestral property and claiming a share for them and for their children they are not entitled to contest the proceedings. The caveat has therefore to be discharged.

3. The application is opposed by the respondents/defendants contending inter alia that they have questioned in para 3 of the written statement the plaintiffs right to probate the Will, but that it is not an issue to be decided in the present proceedings and they have not taken that ground alone to contest the probate proceedings, that they have questioned the genuineness of the Will and in order to establish the suspicious circumstance under which the alleged Will has been brought about, the respondents/defendants have stated about the title also, that the other paragraphs in the written statement deal only with the genuineness of the Will which issue alone has to be decided in the proceedings, that under Hindu law the respondents/defendants being the sons of the deceased and being Class-I legal heirs, they are persons having an interest in the estate of the testator and in these circumstances they cannot be non-suited nor can they be disqualified from contesting the suit so long as they questioned the genuineness of the Will.

4. The point for consideration is whether the caveat is liable to be discharged. Before proceeding further in the matter it is eminently necessary to refer to Section 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, which runs as follows:

“Any Hindu may dispose of by Will or other testamentary disposition any property, which is capable of being so disposed of by him in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, or any other law for the time being in force and applicable to Hindus.

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