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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
SASHIKANTA MISHRA
Judhistira Sethi – Appellant
Versus
Sumitra Behera – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
SASHIKANTA MISHRA, J.
1. This is a Plaintiff’s appeal against a confirming judgment. The judgment dated 23.06.2005 followed by decree passed by the learned Additional District Judge (FTC), Chhatrapur in RFA No.14 of 2004 is impugned, whereby the judgment dated 02.04.2004 passed by learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Chhatrapur in Title Suit No.13 of 2002 was confirmed. The suit, filed by the Plaintiff for declaration of his right, title and interest over the suit property and for delivery of possession by evicting the Defendants therefrom was dismissed by the trial Court and confirmed by the First Appellate Court.
2. For convenience, the parties are described as per their respective status in the trial Court.
3. The Plaintiff case, briefly stated is that the suit property originally belonged to one Parsuram Behera. The Plaintiff is his nephew being the son of his elder brother, late Bairagi Sethi. Although three brothers had separated during their lifetime, Parsuram, who had married Chandrama, had no issues. He had illicit relationship with Defendant No.2 and out of the said relationship, Defendant No.1 was born. Parsuram retired from government service in 1987 and his wi
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 registered Will's validity under the Indian Succession Act requires compliance with statutory attestation requirements, and mixed questions of law and fact necessitate a full trial rather than dism....
The validity of a Will under Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act requires a full trial if disputed facts exist, rather than being decided as a preliminary issue.
The propounder of a will must prove due execution and attestation, particularly when suspicious circumstances exist; mere registration does not guarantee authenticity.
The mere presence of beneficiaries during will execution is not sufficient to invalidate it; the burden of proving suspicious circumstances lies with the challengers.
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.
Section 68 of Indian Evidence Act reads as proof of execution of document required by law to be attested.
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