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Delhi District Court

Rita Singh vs The State And Anr on 25 September, 2023

                                            Rita Singh Vs. The State & Anr.
                                                              SC No.60/22

          IN THE COURT OF MS. NEHA PRIYA
            ACJ-cum-CCJ-cum-ARC, SOUTH
               SAKET COURTS, DELHI

SC No. 60/2022
CNR No. DLST03-000719-2022


Mrs. Rita Singh
W/o late J.K. Singh
R/o D-3A, Ansal Villa,
Satbari, New Delhi.
                                                 ........Petitioner

      Versus

1.    State
      Through
      SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate),
      Saket, South,
      Mehrauli Badarpur Road (M.B. Road),
      Saket, New Delhi - 110017

2.    HDFC Bank Limited
      HDFC Bank House, Senapati Bapat Marg,
      Lower Parel (West),
      Mumbai - 400013

3.    Mrs. Natasha Singh Sinha
      D/o late Mr. J.K. Singh
      W/o late Mr. Gautam Sinha
      R/o Flat No.2, Concord Building,
      Bullock Road, Bandstand,
      Bandra West,
      near Taj Lands End Hotel,
      Mumbai - 400050

4.    Mrs. Shipra Singh Rana
      D/o late Mr. J.K. Singh
      W/o Mr. Sameer Rana
      R/o Flat No. D-902,

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                                                   Rita Singh Vs. The State & Anr.
                                                                    SC No.60/22

      Rustomjiee Paramount,
      Vithaldas Nagar,
      18 Road, Khar West,
      Mumbai - 400052

                                                  ........Respondents


     PETITION FOR GRANT OF SUCCESSION
 CERTIFICATE UNDER SECTION 372 OF THE INDIAN
            SUCCESSION ACT, 1925


1. Date of Institution of Petition            : 27.04.2022
2. Date of Judgment                           : 25.09.2023
3. Decision                                   : Petition Allowed


                           JUDGMENT

1. Vide this judgment, this Court shall dispose off the petition filed by petitioner for grant of succession certificate in respect of shares of HDFC Bank Limited with respondent no.2, which existed in the name of late Sh. J.K. Singh.

2. In the petition, it is inter-alia pleaded that petitioner is the wife, and respondent no.3 & 4 are the daughters of deceased late Sh. J.K. Singh, who expired on 05.09.2019; apart from petitioner and respondent no.3 and 4, there is no other surviving legal heir of the deceased; the deceased was ordinarily residing within the territorial jurisdiction of this Court; and there is no legal impediment in the grant of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner.

3. Perusal of the record reflects that notice of this petition 2 of 6 Rita Singh Vs. The State & Anr.

was given to the general public by way of publication in the newspaper 'Veer Ajun' on 07.08.2022. In response to the notice, no person from the general public came forward to offer any objection qua grant of succession certificate to the petitioner.

4. During the summary proceedings conducted as per Section 373 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, five persons were examined in the form of PW-1 i.e. Ms. Rita Singh, RW-1 i.e. Sh. Rajendra Prasad Yadav, Patwari, SDM Office Saket, New Delhi, RW-2 i.e. Sh. Milthlesh Kumar, Deputy Manager, HDFC Bank, E-143, Saket, New Delhi, RW-3 i.e. Ms. Natasha Singh Sinha and RW-4 i.e. Ms. Shipra Singh Rana.

5. PW-1 Ms. Rita Singh filed her affidavit of evidence in the form of Ex.PW1/A, wherein she reiterated the contents of the petition and relied upon documents Ex.PW1/1 (OSR) i.e. copy of death certificate of late Sh. Jitender Kumar @ J.K. Singh, Ex.PW1/2 (OSR) i.e. copy of her aadhar card, Mark PW1/3 i.e. copy of surviving member certificate and Ex.PW1/4 i.e. copy of share certificate bearing folio no.HB6408233, certificate no.000030665.

6. RW-1 Sh. Rajendra Prasad, Patwari, appeared on behalf of respondent no.1 and filed report regarding the legal heirs of deceased namely late Sh. Jitender Singh, as per which he left behind three legal heirs namely Smt. Rita Singh (wife), Ms. Natasa Singh (daughter) and Ms. Shipra Singh Rana (daughter). Report of Executive Magistrate was exhibited as Ex.RW1/1 3 of 6 Rita Singh Vs. The State & Anr.

(colly), and his report alongwith IDs of witnesses were exhibited as Ex.RW1/2 (colly).

7. RW-2 Sh. Mithilesh Kumar, Deputy Manager, appeared on behalf of respondent no.2 and brought the record of shares holding held by deceased late Sh. J.K. Singh as per the same, the deceased was holding 2,410 shares under folio no.HB6408233 against certificate no.30665 having valuation of Rs.38,61,061/- as on 17.06.2023. The same was exhibited as Ex.RW2/A and copy of his ID proof was exhibited as Ex.RW2/B.

8. RW-3 and RW-4 stated that they were the daughters of deceased late Sh. J.K. Singh and they had no objection if succession certificate was issued in favour of petitioner herein qua the debts and securities (averred in this petition) of the deceased. Copies of their ID proofs were exhibited as Ex.RW3/A and Ex.RW4/A respectively.

9. I have heard the submissions made by Ld. Counsel for the petitioner, perused the record and gone through the relevant provisions of law.

10. The testimony of PW-1 and RW-1 prove that deceased late Sh. J.K. Singh expired on 05.09.2019, and petitioner and respondent no.3 and 4 are the only surviving legal heirs of the deceased. The testimony of RW-2 proves that deceased Sh. J.K. Singh was holding 2,410 shares under folio no.HB6408233 against certificate no.30665 having valuation of Rs.38,61,061/-

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as on 17.06.2023 with respondent no.2.

11. Respondent no.3 and 4 have no objection to issuance of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner. No one else has come forward to oppose this succession petition despite publication in newspaper.

12. In light of the facts and circumstances and on the basis of material placed on record, petitioner is entitled to the succession certificate and there exists no impediment in grant of succession certificate to her. Thus, present petition qua the grant of succession certificate in respect of 2,410 shares of HDFC Bank Limited under folio no.HB6408233 against certificate no.30665, in the name of late Sh. J.K. Singh, having total valuation of Rs.38,61,061/- (Rupees Thirty-Eight Lakhs Sixty-One Thousand Sixty-One only), as on 17.06.2023, is hereby allowed. Accordingly, succession certificate be issued in favour of the petitioner with respect thereof, upon filing of requisite court fees and indemnity bond by the petitioner.

13. The succession certificate shall be considered only as an entitlement of petitioner to receive the current valuation of aforesaid shares and/or transfer thereof including any unclaimed dividend and subsequent issue of bonus shares in respect thereof. Respondent no.2 may seek compliance of formalities, if any, by the petitioner for securing release of the amount of aforesaid shares/transfer thereof, as per rules.

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14. File be consigned to record room after due compliance.

                                         NEHA                by NEHA PRIYA
                                                             Date:
                                         PRIYA               2023.09.25
                                                             16:49:39 +0530

Announced in the open Court               (NEHA PRIYA)
on 25.09.2023                          ACJ-CCJ-ARC/South,
                                           Saket Court/Delhi




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