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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
DEEPAK GUPTA
Lovleen Bihal – Appellant
Versus
Ravinder Bihal – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
Deepak Gupta, J.
Suit for declaration filed by the plaintiff-Lovleen Bihal (appellant herein) regarding the property in dispute was dismissed by the trial Court on 09.01.2023. Appeal filed by the said plaintiff was dismissed by the First Appellate Court on 20.12.2023.
2. Against the abovesaid concurrent findings, the present Regular Second Appeal has been filed by the plaintiff.
3. Subject matter of dispute is a house situated at Guru Nanak Pura, Tehsil Phagwara, District Kapurthala detailed and described in the head note of the plaint, which was admittedly owned by Smt. Kulwant Kaur. Plaintiff-Lovleen Bihal, defendant No.3-Neelam Rani and defendant No.4-Renu Bala are the daughters; and defendant No.1-Ravinder Bihal is the son of said Smt. Kulwant Kaur. Defendant No.2-Sarwan Singh is the devar (brother-in-law) of Smt. Kulwant Kaur and he is unmarried & issueless and admittedly, used to reside with Smt. Kulwant Kaur.
4. The case of the plaintiff seeking declaration to be joint owner in possession of the suit property in her favour and that of defendant Nos. 2 to 4 is based upon a Will dated 14.02.2014, as it is claimed that Smt. Kulwant Kaur had executed the said Will not only
The latest executed Will prevails in determining property ownership; validity must be substantiated by evidence of execution.
The court affirmed that the burden of proof lies with the claimant to establish the validity of a Will, which was not met by the appellant in this case.
The validity of a will is undermined when it is executed under suspicious circumstances, necessitating the propounder to dispel these doubts for the document to be accepted legally.
A Will's validity hinges on proper execution and attestation; one attesting witness's testimony can suffice to establish its legitimacy.
A Will's validity hinges on proving its proper execution and attestation; mere failure to favor certain heirs does not indicate suspicious circumstances.
The court ruled that a registered Will has precedence over an unregistered, disputed Will, particularly when substantial doubts exist regarding the latter's authenticity.
The propounder of a Will must prove its valid execution, including proper attestation by two witnesses as mandated by law.
A Will must be validly executed and proven; failure to do so undermines claims of ownership based on it.
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