JUDGMENT :

DEEPAK GUPTA, J.

The present judgment disposes of four Regular Second Appeals, the details whereof are set out herein below.

2.1 RSA No. 2351 of 2019 & RSA No. 815 of 2019 arise out of Civil Suit No. 2718/1523 of 2013 titled “Varinder Kaur Mann vs. Fateh Jung Singh Chahal and others”, which was decreed by the Court of Ld. Civil Judge (Junior Division), Chandigarh on 19.02.2016. Two separate appeals, namely Civil Appeal No. 145 of 2016, and Civil Appeal No. 157 of 2016, were preferred by different defendants. Both appeals were dismissed vide common judgment dated 21.08.2018 rendered by the learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh. Aggrieved thereby, the de- fendants have filed (i) RSA No. 2351 of 2019 titled “Naresh Sandhu and others vs. Varinder Kaur Mann and others” and (ii) RSA No. 815 of 2019 titled “Fateh Jung Singh Chahal vs. Varinder Kaur Mann and others”.

2.2 RSA No. 3416 of 2023 titled “Fateh Jung Singh Chahal vs. Varinder Kaur Mann and another” arises from Civil Suit No. 3893 of 2012/2013 titled “Fateh Jung Singh Chahal vs. Varinder Kaur Mann and another”, which was dismissed by the Court of Ld. Civil Judge (Junior Division), Chandigarh vide judgment and decree dated 29.03.2017. The appeal preferred there against, i.e., Civil Appeal No. 229 of 2017 by plaintiff of the case Fateh Jung Singh Chahal was dismissed on 22.08.2023 by the learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh. The present Regular Second Appeal has, thus, been filed against concurrent findings of fact.

2.3 RSA No. 415 of 2025 - Yet another suit, namely Civil Suit No. 1475 of 2013 titled “Sonu Mann vs. Fateh Jung Singh Chahal and others”, was instituted before the Court of Additional Civil Judge (Junior Division), Jagraon, which came to be dismissed on 27.09.2022. The appeal preferred by the plaintiff of the case Sonu Mann, i.e., Civil Appeal No. 13588 of 2022 was dismissed by the learned Ad- ditional District Judge, Ludhiana on 29.11.2024. Aggrieved by the concurrent find- ings, the plaintiff has preferred present RSA No. 415 of 2025 titled “Sonu Mann vs. Fateh Jung Singh Chahal and others”.

3. The dispute in all the aforesaid appeals arises inter se amongst real siblings — the children of late Sardar Daljeet Singh Chahal, Advocate of this Court, who expired on 17.10.2006. He was survived by one son, namely, Fateh Jung Singh Chahal, and five daughters, namely Naresh Sandhu, Daljinder Kaur Boparai, Indira Gill, Varinder Kaur Mann and Sonu Mann, who constitute his natural Class-I legal heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, his wife having pre-deceased him in the year 1992. All the children were married by late Sardar Daljeet Singh Chahal during his life time.

4. The core controversy in all the suits and appeals centres around the validity and genuineness of an unregistered holographic Will dated 01.08.1994. The document comprises twenty handwritten pages accompanied by a site plan, and purports to bear the signatures of two attesting witnesses, namely Ms. Ravinder Kaur Nihal Singh Wala, Advocate, and Ms. Harpreet Kaur Dhillon, Advocate.

5. Before adverting to the pleadings of the parties, the evidence led in the respective suits, the issues framed, and the findings returned by the Courts be- low, it would be appropriate to reproduce the aforesaid Will, which reads as under:—

“WILL

I, DALJIT SINGH CHAHAL, Advocate son of late Sardar Sahib Sardar Jhanda Singh Advocate resident of Bungalow No.41 Sector No. 4 Chandigarh aged about 70 years hereby revoke all my previous Wills and codicils and declare this to be my last Will and testament.

I have with my own earnings from the profession and without the assistance of any ancestral property purchased the site plot No.37 Street G Sector No.4 Chandigarh measuring 2533 square yards (5 Kanal and 1.3 Marlas) for a sum of Rs.12132/- (Rs. Twelve thousand one hundred and thirty two only) from the Governor of Punjab vide sale deed dated the 21st day of September 1956 which was allotted to me vide Memo No. 5510