Delhi District Court
Shakuntla (Sr.C) vs State And Ors on 31 May, 2024
IN THE COURT OF MS. ANURADHA JINDAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL JUDGE-CUM-
COMMERCIAL CASES JUDGE-CUM-ADDITIONAL
RENT CONTROLLER, SOUTH WEST DISTRICT,
DWARKA COURTS, NEW DELHI
DLSW030007742024
CNR No. : DLSW03-000774-2024
Under Section : 372 of The Indian Succession Act,
1925
Shakuntla versus The State & Ors.
a) Succession Court Case No. : 55/2024
b) Name & address of the : Shakuntla
W/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh.
R/o H.No. 8, Badi Patti,
Paprawat, South-West,
New Delhi-110043.
c) Name & address of the : 1. State (N.C.T. of Delhi)
respondents
2. The Manager,
Punjab and Sindh Bank,
Branch -Gole Market,
Paprawat, South-West,
New Delhi-110043.
Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 1/11
3. Smt. Sarita,
D/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh.
Pole no. 35, Village
Paprawat,
Paprawat, South-West
New Delhi-110043.
4. Smt. Anju,
D/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh,
R/o H. No. 96, Gali No. 9,
A-2, Block, Near Pepsi
Himgiri Enclave, Burari,
North Delhi,
New Delhi-84.
5. Sh. Umesh Kumar,
S/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh,
R/o H.No. 8, Badi Patti,
Paprawat, South-West,
New Delhi-110043.
6. Sh. Dharmdender
Kumar,
S/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh,
R/o H.No. 8, Badi Patti,
Paprawat, South-West,
Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 2/11
New Delhi-110043.
7. Sh. Satish Kumar,
S/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh,
R/o H.No. 8, Badi Patti,
Paprawat, South-West,
New Delhi-110043.
8. Sh. Shiv Raj,
S/o Late Sh. Mahender
Singh @ Mohinder Singh
Kaloneya @ Mahinder
Singh @ Mahindra
Singh,
R/o H.No. 8, Badi Patti,
Paprawat, South-West,
New Delhi-110043.
9. Smt. Shiv Rani,
W/o Sh. Shumesh Kumar
Sharma,
R/o A-16, A Block,
Dashrath Puri, South-
West, Delhi-110045.
Date of Institution of petition : 06.04.2024
Date of pronouncement of judgement : 31.05.2024
Petition under section 372 of The Indian Succession Act, 1925
for grant of succession certificate in respect of the debts &
securities of deceased Late Sh. Mahender Singh @ Mohinder
Singh Kaloneya @ Mahinder Singh @ Mahindra Singh.
Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 3/11
JUDGEMENT
1 The Case 1.1 The present petition has been filed by the petitioner for
grant of succession certificate under section 372 of The Indian Succession Act, 1925 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), in respect of debts and securities of the deceased Late Sh. Mahender Singh @ Mohinder Singh Kaloneya @ Mahinder Singh @ Mahindra Singh.
2 Petitioner's case:
2.1 The case of the petitioner is that petitioner is the wife of the deceased who expired on 06.04.2021. The deceased was the resident of House No. 8, Badi Patti, Paprawat, South-West, New Delhi-110045. The parents of the deceased already expired. The deceased was survived by seven legal heirs i.e. petitioner who is stated to be the wife of the deceased, respondent no. 3, 4 and 9 who are stated to be the daughters of the deceased and respondent no. 5, 6, 7 & 8 who are stated to be the sons of the deceased.
2.2 The petitioner has approached this Court with the instant petition seeking grant of Succession Certificate in respect of securities of the deceased i.e. (i) amount lying in two current bank accounts no. 07621100000760 & 07621100000759 in the name of M/s Builders and Mahender Singh & Company, (ii) amount lying in savings bank account no. 07621000002303 and one locker no.Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 4/11
351, Key no. 15 maintained with Punjab & Sindh Bank having branch at Gole Market, New Delhi-110001.
3 Summoning of the Respondents:
3.1 Notice of the petition was ordered to be published in newspaper and accordingly, publication was effected through newspaper titled as "Veer Arjun" dated 24.04.2024 however, none appeared on behalf of public at large, to raise any objection to grant of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner.
4 Respondent's Case:
4.1 Pursuant to notice, official appeared on behalf respondent no. 2/Punjab & Sind Bank and filed statement of accounts pertaining to the deceased maintained by it.
4.2 Respondents no. 3 to 9 appeared before the Court and stated that they have no objection to the grant of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner. Their affidavits-cum-no objection certificates, Ex. R-1 to Ex. R- 7 are already on record. Joint statement of respondent no. 3 to 9 was recorded in this regard vide order dated 31.05.2024.
5 Petitioner's Evidence:
5.1 To prove its case, the petitioner examined herself as a witness as PW-1 and tendered her evidence by way of affidavit Ex. PW-1/A bearing her thumb impression at Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 5/11 point A & B respectively and relied upon the following documents:
i. Copy of statement of account pertaining to two current bank accounts and savings bank account is Mark A. ii. System generated copy of death certificate of deceased Late Sh. Mahender Singh is Ex. PW-1/2.
iii. Photocopy of Aadhar Card and PAN Card of PW-1 is Ex.
PW-1/3 (OSR) and Ex. PW-1/4 (OSR) respectively. iv. Photocopies of Aadhar Cards of respondents no. 3 to 9 are Ex. PW-1/5 (OSR) (colly.).
v. Photocopies of PAN Cards of respondent no. 3 to 9 are Ex.
PW-1/6 (OSR) (colly.).
vi. Statement of accounts filed by the respondent bank pertaining to current bank account no. 07621100000759 and no. 07621100000760 and savings bank account no. 076211000002303 in the name of the deceased maintained with Punjab and Sindh Bank having branch at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Gole Market, New Delhi-110001 is Ex. PW-1/7 (colly.).
5.2 PW-1 deposed before the Court on Oath that parents of the deceased already expired. PW-1 deposed that deceased was one of the partner of the company i.e. M/s M.S. Builders and M/s Mahender Singh & Co. The deceased was also known as Mahender Singh @ Mohinder Singh Kaloneya @ Mahinder Singh @ Mahindra Singh and is the same person. The said facts are mentioned by her in her additional affidavit which is Ex. PW-1/B bearing her thumb impression at point A and B. Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 6/11 5.3 The respondents neither cross examined PW-1 nor led any evidence on behalf of respondents as they had no objection to the grant of Succession Certificate in favour of the petitioner.
5.4 Petitioner closed its evidence vide order dated 31.05.2024.
The matter was then posted for final arguments.
6 Final Arguments:
6.1 During the course of final arguments, it was submitted by Ld. Counsel for petitioner that the petitioner seeks succession certificate in respect of securities of the deceased i.e. total amount of Rs. 32,14,290/- till 31.03.2022 (as per Ex. PW-1/7) lying in current bank accounts and savings bank account maintained with Punjab and Sindh Bank having branch at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Gole Market, New Delhi-110001. Respondent no. 3 to 9 being the children of the deceased gave their No Objection Certificates to the claim of the petitioner. The parents of the deceased already expired as per deposition of PW-1.
6.2 Furthermore, none on behalf of public raised any objection to the present petition. Thus, it was finally prayed that Succession Certificate be issued in favour of the Petitioner.Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 7/11
7 Heard the final arguments advanced by Ld. Counsel for the petitioner. This Court has carefully perused the evidence on record in light of the contents of the petition and considered the oral submissions advanced by Ld. Counsel for petitioners.
8 Appreciation and findings:
8.1 The deceased died intestate qua debts and securities which are mentioned in the petition as well as in the testimony of PW-1. The said securities are the amount of Rs.
32,14,290/- till 31.03.2022 (as per Ex. PW-1/7) lying in current bank accounts and savings bank account maintained with Punjab and Sind Bank having branch at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Gole Market, New Delhi- 110001. The details of the securities are as under:
S.No Account no. Branch Amount
1. Current Bank a/c Punjab and Sind Rs. 35,887.94/-
no. Bank having
07621100000759 branch at Bhai Vir
2. Current Bank a/c Singh Sahitya Rs. 11,85,169.19/-
no. Sadan, Gole
07621100000760 Market, New
Delhi-110001
3. Saving bank a/c Rs. 19,93,234.44/-
no.
076211000002303
Total Rs. 32,14,291.57/-
8.2 Therefore, the total value of the above mentioned
securities held by the deceased for which Succession Certificate has been applied for is Rs. 32,14,291.57/- till 31.03.2022 lying in current bank accounts and savings Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 8/11 bank account maintained with Punjab and Sind Bank having branch at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Gole Market, New Delhi-110001.
8.3 So far as bank locker no. 351, Key no. 15 maintained with Punjab & Sind Bank, Gole Market, New Delhi is concerned, the issuance of succession certificate in this respect is not contemplated under the provisions of Indian Succession Act. Accordingly, the said relief cannot be granted.
8.4 At this juncture, it is relevant to mention the case of Madhvi Amma Bhawani Amma & Ors. v. Kunjikutty Pillai Meenakshi, AIR 2000 SC 2301, 2000 (3) ALT 35 SC, 2001 (49) BLJR 813, wherein, 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 time-barred, 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 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".Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 9/11
8.5 From the oral and documentary evidence on record, prima facie it can be said that the deceased is the resident of House No. 8, Badi Patti, Paprawat, South West, New Delhi-110077 which is reflected in the death certificate, Ex. PW-1/2. The matter thus, falls within the jurisdiction of this Court. The deceased who expired on 06.04.2021 was survived by seven Class-I legal heirs i.e. petitioner who is stated to be the wife of the deceased and respondent no. 3 to 9 who are stated to the children of the deceased.
8.6 The claim of the petitioner by way of the present petition under Section 372 of the Act has gone unrebutted. Neither the respondents nor anyone on behalf of the public contested the claim of the petitioner. There is also no impediment under section 370 of the Act to grant Succession Certificate with respect to debts and securities as mentioned in the petition. Furthermore, the deposition of PW-1 and the documents relied upon by the said witness stands unrebutted/uncontroverted/unchallanged. This Court does not find any reason to disbelieve the unrebutted testimony of PW-1 recorded on oath in the Court.
9 Relief:
9.1 In view of the foregoing reasons, this court holds that petitioner is entitled to grant of Succession Certificate under section 373 of the Act in respect of aforementioned securities pertaining to the deceased i.e. amount of Rs. 32,14,291.57/- (Rupees thirty two lacs fourteen Succ Court 55/2024 Shakuntla v. State & Ors. Page 10/11 thousand two hundred ninety one and fifty seven only) till 31.03.2022 lying in current bank account and savings bank account maintained with Punjab and Sind Bank having branch at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Gole Market, New Delhi-110001. Petitioner is also entitled to interest/dividend/bonus/ consequential benefits, if any, accrued thereupon. (Details of the securities is mentioned in the table of para no. 8.1).
9.2 Succession Certificate be issued to the petitioner on filing of corresponding court fees in terms of Article 12 Schedule I of Court Fees Act, 1870 as applicable in Delhi and Indemnity-cum-surety bond of the like amount, within 30 days from today.
9.3 Petition is accordingly, disposed of.
Pronounced in the (Anuradha Jindal)
open Court on 31.05.2024 ACJ-CCJ-ARC,
South West District,
Dwarka Courts, New Delhi
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