IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
ALKA SARIN, J.
Yashoda - Appellant
Versus
Sunil Kumar – Respondent
R.S.A. No. 1988 of 2019
Decided On : 14-03-2024
Will - Property Dispute - The court upheld the validity of the Will executed by the deceased, emphasizing that mere exclusion of a natural heir does not inherently indicate suspicious circumstances surrounding the Will's execution.
Fact of the Case:
The plaintiff-appellant, daughter of the deceased, contested the validity of a Will favoring the defendants, claiming her father was not of sound mind when it was executed. The defendants, nephews of the deceased, argued the Will was valid and executed in sound disposition.
Finding of the Court:
The court found no evidence supporting the claim that the deceased was not of sound mind when executing the Will. The Will was proven by witnesses, and the court noted that exclusion of a natural heir does not automatically imply suspicious circumstances.
Issues: Whether the plaintiff is the owner-in-possession of the disputed property and whether the Will and subsequent mutation are illegal.
Ratio Decidendi: The court concluded that the absence of evidence regarding the deceased's mental state at the time of the Will's execution, along with the established validity of the Will, justified the dismissal of the plaintiff's appeal.
Result: The regular second appeal is dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
(Alka Sarin, J.)
The present regular second appeal has been preferred by the plaintiff-appellant against the judgment and decree dated 14.05.2015 passed by the Trial Court and the judgment and decree dated 20.11.2018 passed by the First Appellate Court whereby her suit for declaration and permanent injunction has been dismissed.
2. The brief facts relevant to the present case are that one Ami Lal son of Bakhtawar Singh (father of the plaintiff-appellant) was owner-in possession having 216/7073 share in Khewat No.25 Khatoni No.61 to 80 Kitta 77 and 31/1058 share in Khewat No.27 Khatoni No.84 to 88 Kitta 13, situated in village Khatiwas, Tehsil and District Mahendergarh. Ami Lal expired on 13.05.2011 and his wife had predeceased him and the plaintiff appellant being his daughter is the only legal heir. It was alleged that Ami Lal, because of old age, was not in sound disposition of mind and had feeble understanding, power and that the plaintiff-appellant was rendering services to him being his sole daughter. After the death of Ami Lal the plaintiff appellant approached the Halqa Patwari for getting recorded mutation in her favour from where she came to know that mutation No.1008 dated 06.06.2011 had been recorded in favour of the defendant-respondents on the basis of Will No.156/3 dated 06.08.2010. It was submitted that the defendant-respondents were the nephews of Ami Lal and had neither participated nor given financial help at the time of her marriage and in the absence of any closeness in relations, there was no question of execution of any Will in their favour. It was prayed that the impugned Will and mutation be set-aside and the plaintiff-appellant be declared as owner-in-possession of the suit land with consequential relief of injunction against the defendant- respondents. In their written statement the defendant-respondents submitted that Ami Lal was an able-bodied person with sound mind and had died in sound disposition. It was further submitted that it was the defendant respondents who used to take care of Ami Lal, being his nephews, and that the plaintiff-appellant was residing in her matrimonial home and in her absence the defendant-respondents were rendering services to the deceased. As a result, the deceased in sound disposition executed the registered Will and bequeathed his entire property in favour of the defendant-respondents. No replication was filed by the plaintiff-appellant.
3. The Trial Court framed the following issues:
2. Whether Will No.156 dated 6.8.2010 allegedly executed by Ami Lal in favour of defendants as well as mutation sanctioned thereafter are illegal and as such liable to be set aside ? OPP
3. Whether the present suit is not maintainable in the present form? OPD
4. Whether the plaintiff has concealed the true and material facts from the court ? OPD
5. Whether the plaintiff has no cause of action to file the present suit ? OPD
6. Whether the defendants are entitled to special cost from the plaintiff under Section 35A CPC ? OPD
7. Relief.
4. The Trial Court vide judgment and decree dated 14.05.2015 dismissed the suit of the plaintiff-appellant. Aggrieved by the said judgment and decree dated 14.05.2015 an appeal was preferred by the plaintiff appellant which appeal was also dismissed vide judgment and decree dated 20.11.2018. Hence, the present regular second appeal.
5. Learned counsel for the plaintiff-appellant has contended that the impugned judgements and decrees are illegal and erroneous and that the Courts have wrongly dismissed the suit of the plaintiff-appellant. It was submitted that the Will of Ami Lal was surrounded by suspicious circumstances as a natural heir was deprived of the property of the Testator. It was submitted that infact the suit should have been decreed.
6. Heard counsel for the plaintiff-appellant and perused the paperbook.
7. Both the Courts have reached concurrent findings of fact and have
A Will's validity is upheld unless clear evidence of mental incapacity or undue influence is presented; mere exclusion of heirs does not create suspicion.
The central legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of a registered Will and the validity of the mutation based on the Will.
Exclusion of natural heirs is insufficient to invalidate a Will; the burden of proof lies on the appellant to demonstrate fraud or lack of testamentary capacity.
The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for a convincing explanation of suspicious circumstances surrounding the making of a will, as emphasized in the case of Jaswant ....
The execution of a Will must be proved not only when the statutory requirements for proving the Will are satisfied but the Will is also found to be ordinarily free from suspicious circumstances.
Validity of the executed will takes precedence over ancestral property claims in absence of sufficient proof.
A Will, even if not registered, must be conclusively proven to establish inheritance rights, and unexplained delays in filing can bar claims.
The burden of proof rests on the party asserting the validity of a Will, which must be established free from suspicious circumstances.
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