Delhi District Court
Kamaljeet & Anr. vs . State & Ors on 9 July, 2013
Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors
SC21/13
IN THE COURT OF MS. SURYA MALIK GROVER: ACJcumCCJcumARC
(SOUTHWEST): DWARKA COURTS: NEW DELHI.
Succession Case No.21/13
1. Kamaljeet, (aged about 15 years)
2. Somvir @ Sachin (aged about 14 years)
Both son of Lt. Sh Jai Bhagwan
R/o Hno. 74, Village Pandwala Khurd,
Post Office Najafgarh, New Delhi43.
(Through their Grandmother namely Lakshmi Devi)
...............Petitioners
vs.
1. State (Govt. NCT of Delhi)
2. Axis Bank Ltd.
Khan Market, Shop no. 2A & 2B,
Khan Market, New Delhi110003.
3. Dy. Commissioner of Police,
South West District, Delhi.
4. Smt. Preeti W/o Sh Kishan
D/o Lt. Sh Jai Bhagwan
R/o Village Saidpur, District Sonepat, Haryana.
5. Ms. Suman D/o Lt. Sh Jai Bhagwan
R/o Hno. 74, Village Pandwala Khurd,
Post Office Najafgarh, New Delhi43.
: 1 :
Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors
SC21/13
6. Ms. Manisha D/o Lt. Sh Jai Bhagwan
R/o Hno. 74, Village Pandwala Khurd,
Post Office Najafgarh, New Delhi43.
.............Respondents
Petition U/s 372 of Indian Succession Act for grant of Succession
Certificate in respect of assets of the Estate of deceased Late Sh Jai
Bhagwan.
Date of Institution: 26.03.13
Date of Reserving Order: 09.07.13.
Date of Judgment: 09.07.13
JUDGEMENT:
1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner no.1 Kamaljeet and petitioner no.2 Somvir @ Sachin through their grandmother Smt. Lakshmi Devi for grant of Succession certificate U/s 372 of Indian Succession Act, 1925( herein after referred to as the Act), in respect of movable properties/estate, debts and securities etc., of Late Sh Jai Bhagwan.
The State, Axis Bank Ltd., Dy. Commissioner of Police, Smt. Preeti, Ms. Suman and Ms. Manisha have been impleaded as the respondents.
: 2 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13
2. It has been averred by the petitioners that their father Late Sh Jai Bhagwan expired on 12.12.11 at Metro Hospital, Najafgarh, New Delhi and was ordinarily residing at Hno. 74, Village Pandwala Khurd, Post Office Najafgarh, New Delhi43, which falls within the jurisdiction of this court. It is further averred that deceased Sh Jai Bhagwan has left behind petitioner no.1 , 2 & respondent no.4, 5 and 6 as his surviving legal heirs.
3. Notice of the petition was issued and ordered to be published in the newspaper "Veer Arjun" on 11.04.2013 but none appeared on behalf of public at large, to raise any objection to grant of succession certificate in favour of petitioner.
4. In support of the case, the petitioners examined Smt. Lakshmi Devi as PW1 Mithlesh Sharma in Petitioner evidence.
Further , in Respondent evidence, Ms Suman, daughter of deceased and sister of petitioners as RW1, Ms Manisha, daughter of deceased and sisters of petitioners as RW2, ASI Vinod Kumar, Account Branch, Additional C.P, South West district, Dwarka, New Delhi as RW3, Smt Preeti, daughter of deceased and sisters of petitioners as RW4 and Sh Amar Singh Jamwal, Assistant Manager, : 3 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 Axis Bank, Khan Market, New Delhi as RW5.
PW1 Smt. Lakshmi Devi, has deposed on oath that she is the grandmother of petitioner no.1 Kamaljeet and petitioner no.2 Somvir @ Sachin who are minors and has filed succession petition alongwith her affidavit as ExPW1/A. She has deposed that her son Sh Jai Bhagwan was the resident of Hno. 74, Village Pandwala Khurd, Post Office Najafgarh, New Delhi and had expired on 12.12.11, his death certificate is ExPW1/B. She has testified that her daughterin law Smt. Kailash Devi expired on 21.01.11, her death certificate is ExPW1/C. She has further deposed that her son Sh Jai Bhagwan died intestate without leaving any will and besides herself, petitioner no.1 & 2 and respondent no. 4, 5 and 6 are ClassI legal heirs/ survivors of belongings of her deceased son. She has further deposed that she has no objection for grant of succession in favour of petitioner no.1 & 2, both minors through her regarding debts and securities of the deceased Jai Bhagwan. She has filed on record the photocopy of self attested for residential proof as Mark Z. RW1 is Ms. Suman who has deposed on oath that she is the respondent No. 5 & daughter of Late Sh. Jai Bhagwan and sister of the petitioners & has no objection for grant of succession certificate in favour of petitioner No. 1 Kamaljeet (minor) and : 4 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 petitioner no.2 Somvir @ Sachin (minor) regarding debts and securities of the deceased Jai Bhagwan. She has filed the self attested photocopy of her Aadhar card for her identification, as Mark A. RW2 is Ms. Manisha who has deposed on oath that she is the respondent No. 6 & daughter of Late Sh. Jai Bhagwan and sister of the petitioners & has no objection for grant of succession certificate in favour of petitioner No. 1 Kamaljeet (minor) and petitioner no.2 Somvir @ Sachin (minor) regarding debts and securities of the deceased Jai Bhagwan mentioned in para No. 6 in the present succession petition. She has filed the self attested photocopy of her PAN card for her identification as Mark A. RW3 is ASI Vinod Kumar, Account Branch, Additional C.P., South West District, Dwarka, New Delhi who has proved on oath the attested copy of details of amount to be paid to the family of Late Sh Jai Bhagwan, No. 166/C as EX.RW3/A, which bears the signature of Sh. Nawal Kishore, ACP, DDO, South West District, New Delhi at point A. He has further stated that as per the office records, the total amount due is Rs. 7,28,001/ alongwith interest on GPF. He has further proved the photocopies of orders passed by various authorities with regard to dues payable to the deceased as EX.RW1/B : 5 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 to EX.RW1/F, which bears the signature of Sh. Nawal Kishore, ACP, DDO, South West District, New Delhi at point A on each page.
RW4 is Smt. Preeti who has deposed on oath that she is the respondent No. 4 & daughter of Late Sh. Jai Bhagwan and sister of the petitioners & has no objection for grant of succession certificate in favour of petitioner No. 1 Kamaljeet (minor) and petitioner no.2 Somvir @ Sachin regarding debts and securities of the deceased Jai Bhagwan . She has filed the self attested photocopy of 10th class certificate to prove her date of birth and parentage as ExRW4/A(OSR).
RW5 is Amar Singh Jamwal, Asstt. Manager, Axis Bank, 2A and 2B, Khan Market, New Delhi03 who has proved on oath the attested copy of statement of salary account No. 12000101000649636 which is in the name of deceased Sh. Jai Bhagwan for the period of 01.04.2011 to 22.04.2013. He has further stated that as per statement of account the balance as on 22.04.2013 is Rs.46,384.92/ and has proved the attested copies of statement of account as EX.PW5/A(colly).
Thereafter Petitioner Evidence was closed.
: 6 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13
5. I have heard the arguments advanced by Ld counsel and have perused the material on record.
6. In Madhvi Amma Bhawani Amma & Ors. Vs. Kunjikutty Pillai Meenakshi, AIR 2000 SC 2301, 2000 (3) ALT 35 SC, 2001 (49) BLJR 813, it was held as under:
" The enquiry in proceedings for grant of succession certificate is to be summary, and the Court, without determining questions of law or fact, which seem to it to be too intricate and difficult for determination, should grant the certificate to the person who appears to have prima facie the best title thereto. In such cases the Court has not to determine definitely and finally as to who has the best right to the estate. All that it is required to do is to hold a summary enquiry into the right to the certificate, with a view, on the one hand, to facilitate the collection of debts due to the deceased and prevent their being timebarred, owing (for instance) to dispute between the heirs inter se as to their preferential right to succession, and, on the other hand, to afford protection to the debtors by appointing a representative of the deceased and authorising him to give a valid discharge for the debt. The grant of a : 7 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 certificate to a person does not give him an absolute right to the debt nor does it bar a regular suit for adjustment of the claims of the heirs inter se".
7. From the oral and documentary evidence on record, my prima facie findings are as under: 7.1. The deceased Sh Jai Bhagwan was having residence at Hno. 74, Village Pandwala Khurd, Post Office Najafgarh, New Delhi43, which is reflected from his death certificate proved as ExPW1/B which falls within the jurisdiction of this court.
7.2 The deceased Sh. Jai Bhagwan had expired on 12.12.11 leaving behind five ClassI legal heirs i.e petitioner no.1 & 2 and respondent no.4 to 6. Respondent no.4 to 6 have given their no objection in favour of the petitioner no.1 & 2. On the other hand, petitioner no.1 & 2, being minors are not competent to give their statements as regards the debts and securities of the deceased 7.3 The deceased Sh. Jai Bhagwan died intestate qua debts and securities i.e. ExRW3/A which is the attested copy of details of : 8 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 amount to be paid to the family of late Cook Jai Bhagwan, No. 166/C bearing the signature of Sh. Nawal Kishore, ACP, DDO, South West District, New Delhi at point A, as per which the total amount payable to him is Rs. 7,28,001/ alongwith interest on GPF. Further, as per the statement of account ExPW5/A, Rs 46,384.92 is the balance amount in salary account no.120010100649636.
Therefore, the total value of the securities held by the deceased for which succession certificate has been applied for turns out to be Rs. 7,74,385.92/.
7.4 The aforesaid claim of the petitioners has gone unrebutted and nobody has appeared on behalf of the public to contest the claim of the petitioners. There is also no impediment U/s 370 of the Act to grant Succession Certificate with respect to debts and securities as mentioned in the application.
8. In view of the aforesaid observations, I hold that the petitioner no.1 and 2, who are minor, through their grandmother Smt. Lakshmi Devi is entitled for the grant of Succession Certificate U/s 373 of the Act in respect of the aforementioned securities having total value of Rs. 7,74,385.92/ alongwith interest accrued thereon, if any.
: 9 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13
9. Accordingly, succession certificate be issued to Smt. Lakshmi Devi in the name of minor petitioner no.1 & 2 for their 1/2 share each on filing of court fees of Rs. 19,359.64/ in terms of Article 12 Schedule I of Court Fees Act, 1870 as applicable in Delhi and Indemnitycumsurety bond of the like amount, within 15 days from today. Smt. Lakshmi Devi is directed that the share of the petitioner no.1 & 2, who are minors may be reinvested in their respective names till they attain the age of majority. Petition is accordingly, disposed of.
File be consigned to record room after due compliance.
Announced in the open court (Surya Malik Grover) today i.e on 09.07.13 ACJ/CCJ/ARC/DC/ND : 10 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 SC no.21/13 Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors.
09.07.13 Present : Ld. counsel for petitioner.
Final arguments heard.
By virtue of Judgment, announced in the open court, Succession petition has been granted to the petitioner No. 1 Sh.Kamaljeet and petitioner no.2 Somvir @ Sachin for their ½ share each through their grandmother Smt. Lakshmi Devi and are directed to file required court fees of Rs. 19,359.64/ and Indemnitycum surety bond, within 15 days from today.
File be consigned to record room after due compliance.
(S.M. Grover) ACJcumCCJARC/DC/ND : 11 : Kamaljeet & Anr. vs. State & ors SC21/13 : 12 :