Allahbad High Court
K.C.AGARWAL
Bhaiya Ji - Appellant
Versus
Jageshwar Dayal Bajpai - Respondent
Decided On : 12/01/1977
INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT, 1925 - SECTION 214 - PROBATE OR SUCCESSION CERTIFICATE - REQUIREMENT FOR DECREE AGAINST DEBTOR OF DECEASED PERSON - APPLICABILITY TO HINDUS - NO EXCEPTION FOR HINDUS IN SECTION 214 - DEBTOR AND CREDITOR RELATIONSHIP AT TIME OF DEATH NECESSARY - SUIT NOT BARRED, BUT DECREE CANNOT BE PASSED WITHOUT PROBATE OR SUCCESSION CERTIFICATE.
Fact of the Case:
Plaintiffs, claiming under a will executed by their aunt, Smt. Bitto Kuer, sued the defendant, Jageshwar Dayal, for recovery of Rs. 11,000/- received by him on her behalf from the sale of her properties. The defendant contested the suit, raising various grounds, including the requirement of a probate or succession certificate by the plaintiffs.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that Section 214 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, which debars a court from passing a decree against a debtor of a deceased person for payment of debt without the production of a probate or succession certificate, applies to Hindus as well as non-Hindus. The court distinguished the case from an earlier decision, Nobat Ram v. Smt. Gyatri Devi, which dealt with the applicability of Section 213 of the Act to Hindu wills.
Issues: Whether a probate or succession certificate was required to be obtained by the plaintiffs before a decree could be granted in their favour.
Ratio Decidendi: Section 214 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, does not make any distinction between Hindus and non-Hindus. It treats everybody alike. The only necessary thing is that there should be a relationship of debtor and creditor between the person from whom money is claimed and the deceased at the time of the latter's death.
Final Decision: The revision petition was dismissed, and the trial court's decision requiring the plaintiffs to obtain a probate or succession certificate before a decree could be passed in their favor was upheld.
2. Briefly stated, the facts necessary to appreciate the controversy are these. One Smt. Bitto Kuer was the aunt of the plaintiffs. She owned considerable property. Jageshwar Dayal (since deceased), who was impleaded as defendant in the suit, used to manage the same. During the lifetime of Smt. Bitto Kuer, the defendant made negotiations on her behalf for the sale of her properties, which ultimately fructified. On the transfer having been made by Smt. Bitto Kuer, the defendant received a sum of Rs. 11,000/- on her behalf. Smt. Bitto Kuer, however, died on 14-8-1971. During her lifetime she executed a will bequeathing her estate including the amount in question to the plaintiffs. In the suit, the plaintiffs claimed the said amount on the basis of the will.
3. The suit was contested by the defendant Jageshwar Dayal. He raised a number of grounds. I am, however, not concerned with all of them, excepting one which was to the effect that the plaintiffs could not get the decree without obtaining a probate or a succession certificate.
4. The trial court framed Issue No. 6 as a preliminary issue on the above controversy, and taking the view that the plaintiffs could not get the decree in the suit without producing a probate or a succession certificate, decided the issue against them. Aggrieved, the plaintiffs preferred a revision before the learned District Judge. The revision was dismissed by the impugned order dated 4-5-1974. Hence this second revision.
5. The sole controversy which arises for determination in this case is whether a probate or succession certificate was required to be obtained by the plaintiffs before a decree could be granted in their favour. Sri K. K. Bajpai, counsel appearing for the plaintiffs, contended that as the provisions of S. 214 read with S. 213 of the Indian Succession Act did not apply to a Hindu living in Uttar Pradesh, the courts below committed an error in holding that the suit of the plaintiffs could not be decreed without obtaining a probate or succession certificate.
6. In order to appreciate the above controversy, reference may be made to S. 57 read with S. 213 of the Indian Succession Act. A reading of the aforesaid two provisions would indicate that the provisions of S. 213 requiring an executor or legatee to obtain a probate of the will under which the right is claimed shall only apply in case of wills made by any Hindu, Budhist, Sikh or Jain where such wills are of the classes specified in cls. (a) and (b) of S. 57. Clauses (a) and (b) of S. 57 would indicate that these provisions are applicable to all wills and codicils made by any Hindu, Budhist, Sikh or Jain within the territories mentioned in Cl. (a) and also to all such wills and condicils made outside those territories and limits so far as the same related to immovable property situated within these territories or limits. A combined reading of these two provisions would show that where the parties to the will are Hindus but the properties in dispute are not in Bengal, Bombay and Madras, sub-sec. (2) of S. 213 of the Indian Succession Act applies and sub-sec. (1) has no application. As a consequence, a probate will not be required to be obtained by a Hindu in respect of a will made regarding the immovable properties situated in Uttar Pradesh. The same view was taken by our High Court in Nobat Ram v. Smt. Gyatri Devi (1968 All LJ 69).
7. The question involved in the instant case is however, different. Here the problem which arises for decision is whether S. 214 of the Indian Succession Act applies or not. There is nothing in S. 214 like sub-sec. (2) of S. 213 laying down that the provisions of this Act could not apply to Hindu wills. The court has been debarred from passing a decree against a debtor of a deceased person for payment of his debt to a person cl
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