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2025 Supreme(Online)(MAD) 3551
HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
P.B. BALAJI, J
Prabhakaran – Appellant
Versus
The District Collector, Office of the Collectorate Building, Virudhunagar District – Respondent
W.P.(MD)No.3369 of 2025
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr.D.S.Haroon Rasheed
For the Respondents: Mr.B.Saravanan
The unregistered Will is valid for the purpose of claiming rights over property as per the relevant provisions of law.
Headnote:This writ petition under Article 226 seeks to quash the order of the third respondent rejecting the petitioner's application to include his and his brother's names in certain pattas. The court noted that registration of the Will is optional according to Section 18(e) of the Registration Act, 1908, and ruled that the petitioner is entitled to claim the inclusion of their names despite the unregistered status of the Will. The petition is allowed, requiring the third respondent to reassess the application on its merits without considering the absence of registration.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. court's acceptance of consent for final disposal (Para 2) |
| 2. issues surrounding unregistered wills and their effects on legal claims (Para 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 3. final ruling allowing inclusion of petitioner's name in the patta (Para 6) |
ORDER
By consent of both parties, the Writ Petition is taken up for final disposal at the admission stage itself.
2. I have heard the learned counsel appearing on either side and perused the materials placed before this Court.
3. The petitioner has made an application for including his name and his brother name in the existing patta Nos.3031, 2972 and 2031. The said application is based on an unregistered Will bequeathing the subject property in favour of the petitioner and his brother. However, the third respondent has rejected the said application on the sole ground that the Will is an unregistered Will and hence, the application cannot not be processed.
4. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that the issue has already been dealt with by this Court in W.P(MD)No.22863 of 2019, where, this Court, holding that the registration of the Will is optional and not compulsory and referring to Section 18(e) of the Reistration Act, 1908, set aside a similar order, rejecting the application for patta.
5. In the light of the above and in view of the fact that the Will is not compulsorily registerable, the Will would take effect on the demise of the testator/testatrix dehors the fact that it is registered or not, the legaties/ beneficiaries under the Will would become entitled to stake their claim to their respective bequests in the subject Will. Therefore, the petitioner and his brother are clearly entitled to seek inclusion of their name in the pattas. The rejection of the application is on the sole ground that the Will is unregistered.
6. In view of the above, the writ petition is allowed and the online application, which has been rejected, shall be reopened and the third respondent Tahsildar shall decide the same on merits and in accordance with law without putting non-registration of the Will against the petitioner. No costs.
7. The said exercise shall be completed within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
Index : Yes / No NCC : Yes / No 05.02.2025 am TO:-
1.The District Collector, Virudhunagar District.
2.The Revenue Divisional Officer, Sivakasi, Virudhunagar District.
3.Tahsildar, Office of the Tahsildar, Watrap Taluk, Virudhunagar District.
P.B. BALAJI , J .
am Order made in W.P.(MD)No.3369 of 2025 Dated:
05.02.2025
