5th January,

2026 (AK)

F.A. 336 of 2025

IA No: CAN 4 of 2025

Sri Siddhartha Mukherjee @ Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay

Vs.

Smt. Jyotikona Banerjee

Mr. Subhabrata Bandyopadhyay

...for the appellant.

Mr. Arif Ali

Mr. Sarban Bhattacharya

Mr. Sagar Dutta

...for the respondent.

1. A short point is involved in the appeal.

2. The supplementary affidavit filed today on behalf of

the appellant be kept on record, from which it transpires that initially, in the probate proceeding from which the present appeal arises, evidence was

led by both parties.

3. Two witnesses on behalf of the

petitioner/respondent, that is, PW1 and PW2, adduced evidence by filing their affidavits of

examination-in-chief.

4. Both the said witnesses were cross-examined at

length by the present appellant, who was the

defendant in the probate suit.

5. Subsequently, however, it was detected that issues had not been framed and the probate court framed the issues formally, upon which, on the application of the plaintiff/respondent, the examination-in- chief already adduced by PW1 and PW2 was permitted to be adopted by the plaintiff/respondent.

6. Consequentially, the present appellant, who was the defendant in the testamentary court, made an application for recall of the plaintiff’s witnesses for further cross-examination on the ground that the issues had been framed later.

7. Learned counsel for the appellant argues that the subsequent adoption of the examination-in-chief by the plaintiff entitles the defendant/appellant to a fresh cross-examination.

8. Learned counsel for the respondent disputes such proposition and submits that the issues were formal in nature and since both the witnesses of the plaintiffs were cross-examined at length by the present appellant, no further right accrued for cross-examination merely upon the issues being framed.

9. Since the above question is the limited conspectus of the appeal itself, we dispense with the filing of formal paper books and calling for the trial court records.

10. Since the respondent is represented through counsel, service of notice of the appeal on the respondent is also dispensed with.

11. The appeal and the application shall be listed tomorrow, that is, on January 6, 2026 under the same heading for being decided together.