A registered Will's validity stands unless disproven by credible evidence, impacting claims of heirs.

JUDGMENT

The Appeal Suit had been filed by the unsuccessful plaintiff challenging the judgment and decree made in O.S.No.76 of 2005, wherein her claim for a partition of the scheduled mentioned property had been rejected.

2. The brief facts of the case are that the plaintiff, defendants 1&2 are brothers and sister and defendants 3 to 6 are the legal heirs of their pre-deceased sister.

3. The case of the plaintiff is that the scheduled mentioned property belonged to her father one Pache Gounder and that after his demise, the defendants 1 and 2 have been denying the rightful share to the plaintiff on one protext or another. She had originally initiated a Suit in O.S.No.454 of 1992, which after a settlement between the parties was withdrawn by the plaintiff as being settled out of Court. The settlement that was arrived at between the parties was that they would give her rightful shares in the properties. However, even after a long time, the defendants 1 and 2 have been evading the partition of the properties. While that being so, in the year 2002, a partition deed was sought to be registered by the defendants 1 and 2 in which they had also obtained the signature from the plaintiff by giving misleading statements. Just before the registration, the plaintiff had found that she had been only allotted 0.46.5 acres of land. Upon knowing that she had been given a lesser share than that what she is entitled to, the plaintiff had refused to present the same for registration and also made objection to the concerned Registrar. Therefore, the said partition deed had not been registered. Thereafter, she had filed the present Suit. The said claim had been opposed by the first and second defendants by contending that their father Pache Gounder had executed settlement deeds in respect of certain of the properties during his life time and that he had also executed a registered Will in their favour. Originally, when the plaintiff had filed a Suit for partition, the same was also resisted to by the defendants by relying upon a receipt that had been issued by the plaintiff, as also the defendants 3 to 6, wherein they have recognised the Will that had been executed by the father and were also given exgratia payment of Rs.25,000/- each.

Suppressing all these facts, the plaintiff had filed the Suit for partition. 4. To substantiate her claim, the plaintiff had examined herself as PW1 and marked documents as Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.10; defendants 1 & 2 had examined themselves as DW-1 and DW-3; the 4th defendant was examined as DW-5; the attesting witness of the Will (Ex.B.9) was examined as DW-2 and the Doucment Writer of the said Will was examined as DW-4. They had also marked exhibits as Ex.D1 to Ex.D9.

5. The Trial Court after considering the facts of the case based upon the pleadings had framed issues with regard to the validity of the Will and whether the plaintiff was entitled for a share in the property, apart from that one more issue was also framed, as to whether any cause of action. The Trial Court after trial based upon the said issues framed, had come to a conclusion that the Will was genuine and that the plaintiff was not entitled for any share in the property and had dismissed the Suit. Against which, the present Appeal Suit had been preferred.

6.Heard Mr.P.S.Seetharaman, learned counsel appearing for the appellant and Mr.M.Kalyanasundaram, learned Senior counsel appearing for Mr.R.Vasudevan, learned counsel appearing for the respondents 1 to 5 and 7.

7. The learned counsel appearing for the plaintiff had contended that the Pache Gounder had died interstate and the alleged Will relied upon by the defendants cannot be said to be a true Will, as even the attesting witness and the scribe, who were examined to substantiate the said Will had deposed inconsistently. He would submit that the sister of the plaintiff, defendants 1 & 2 had died much before, but however, DW-3 in his evidence has categorically stated that he had seen both the daughters of Pache Go