Delhi District Court
W/O Late Sh. Umrao Singh vs Smt. Rajni on 29 March, 2014
IN THE COURT OF SH.AJAY SINGH SHEKHAWAT,
ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL JUDGE(SOUTH),
SAKET COURTS, NEW DELHI
SUCCESSION CASE NO.169/09
Smt. Kalawati Devi
W/o Late Sh. Umrao Singh,
R/o H. No. 208, PTS, TypeI, Mehrauli Road,
New Delhi ................... Petitioner
Versus.
1. Smt. Rajni
D/o Late Sh. Umrao Singh ...............Respondent no.1
2. Smt. Sujata
S/o Late Sh. Umrao Singh ...............Respondent no.2
3. Sh. Vijay Singh
S/o Late Sh. Umrao Singh ...............Respondent no.3
All Residents of
H. NO. 208, PTS, Type I,
Mehrauli Road, New Delhi
4. The State ( N.C.T of Delhi) ...............Respondent no. 4
Application for grant of Succession Certificate U/S 372 of
Indian Succession Act, 1925.
DATE OF INSTITUTION : 23.10.2009
Succession No.169/09 Page 1/6
DATE OF RESERVING ORDER : Not Reserved
DATE OF PRONOUNCEMENT : 29.03.2014
JUDGMENT
1. Vide this judgment, I shall dispose off the petition filed by the petitioner Smt. Kalawati Devi for the grant of a succession certificate under section 372 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 ( hereinafter referred to as ' the Act') in respect to debt/securities etc., of Late Sh. Umrao Singh.
2. The facts relevant for the disposal of the present petition are that deceased husband of the petitioner expired and unfortunately left this world on 09.03.09 at Deen Dayal Hospital, Kund, Haryana. It has been further stated by the petitioner that she alongwith respondent no. 1 Kumari Rajni ( daughter), respondent no. 2 Kumari Sujat ( daughter) and respondent no. 3 Vijay Singh ( son) are the legal heir of deceased Umarao Singh. It is also stated that the deceased had not executed any Will during his life time. It was further stated on behalf of the petitioner that there is no impediment under the provision of the Act in the grant of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner in respect of the following:
S.no. Particulars of Debt / Securities Amount ( in Rs.)
1 Amount deposited in the court of Sh. R.K. Yadav, Rs. 50,000/- + interest
Special Judge, CBI, in the case CC No. 90/07 titled ( if any)
as CBI Vs. Umrao Singh, u/s 445 Cr.PC
3. Since there were admittedly no other legal heirs of the deceased, a notice of the petition was published in the daily newspaper ' The Statesman' on 12.12.2009 to invite objections to the grant of succession certificate in favour of the applicant / Succession No.169/09 Page 2/6 petitioner, but none had appeared on behalf of the public at large on the day of hearing fixed to contest / oppose or raise any objection to the grant of the succession certificate in favour of the applicant / petitioner.
4. The applicant / petitioner had examined herself as AW-1 deposing on the line of the facts as averred in her petition and tendered her affidavit, which is Ex AW1/1. In support of her affidavit, she had relied upon the following documents:-
(a) Original Death Certificate of deceased Umrao Singh dated 20.03.09 bearing Redg. no. 27 and Redg. Date 16.03.09 issued by Registrar Birth and Death and Medical Officer, Rewari, Haryana.
(b) Copy of Receipt bearing no. 974966 as Ex PW1/B.
5. The law with respect to the grant of succession certificate is provided in Part X of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. It inter alia provides that any person claming himself to be the relative or legal heir of the deceased or any person having a prima facie beneficial interest in the 'debt or securities' of the deceased may apply to a competent court for the grant of a succession certificate. Upon receiving such application, the court is mandated to conduct an inquiry to ascertain the right to the certificate. The enquiry in such proceeding is to be 'summary', and the court, without determining the questions of law or fact which seem to it to be too intricate and difficult to determination, should grant the certificate to the person who appears to have prima-facie the best title thereto. The provision is to decide the application in a summary manner and the question to be decided is the right to the succession certificate. The enquiry contemplated in the case of rival claimants to the estate of the deceased person is of a summary type and is not intended to lead any final adjudication. No doubt, some sort of inquiry would be essential to enable the court to Succession No.169/09 Page 3/6 grant a certificate, and though the inquiry is to be directed to find out which of the rival claimants for the certificate is better suited for getting the certificate, that does not operate as a final adjudication with respect to the rival claims regarding the right to be debts in question, but operates only as a kind of make-shift or temporary arrangement enabling the grantee to realise the assets for the benefits of whosoever may ultimately be entitled thereto.
6. Under section 370 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, a succession certificate can be granted only in respect of debts and securities and not for any kind of property. The word 'debt' in Part X of the Indian Succession Act does not include any movable property other than a specific or ascertained or liquidated sum of money. The meaning of the expression 'security' as used in Part X of the said Act is provided in Section 370(2) of the Act. Debt and securities are merely two species of property out of wide variety of properties a man may own.
7. Section 371 of the Act provides that the deceased should have been ordinarily residing within the jurisdiction of the court at the time of his death or if at that time he had no fixed place of residence the property or any part thereof must be situated within the jurisdiction of the court. The property mentioned in the section must be the property of the deceased and not property which is claimed by the applicant as his own. The Act does not bar any one of the relatives heirs left by the deceased to make application of the succession certificate in respect of the debt or debts due to the decease or in respect of portion thereof. By Clause (d) of S.372(1) the Legislature intends that person to be granted a certificate must be one who has title or interest in the debt, to collect which the certificate is applied for. Law abhors Escheat; it also abhors vacuum. Succession is the rule and that is to be prompted not defeated.
8. The essential requisite for entitling a person to make the application is the Succession No.169/09 Page 4/6 existence prima facie of a beneficial interest in the applicant. The Court is primarily concerned with the question as to who among the various applicants is the proper person to represent the estate of the deceased and collect the money. All other disputes have to be decided in appropriate proceedings. Grant of Succession Certificate does not depend on the right of any claimant to the debt. The certificate does not recognise or invest in the grantee title to the debt or property in the debt. It only enables him to collect the debt and give valid discharge to the creditor. If there be conflicting claims, they have to be settled in appropriate proceedings in accordance with the law. The court may refuse grant of a succession certificate when intricate questions of law or fact are involved.
9. I have heard the arguments on behalf of the petitioner and gone through entire material available on record.
10. Ex PW1/A which is the death certificate reflects that Sh. Umrao Singh died on 09.03.09. Ex PW1/B reflects that he had deposited a sum of Rs. 50,000/- in the court of Sh. R.K. Yadav, Special Judge, CBI in the case CC No. 90/07 titled as CBI Vs. Umarao Singh, u/s 445 Cr.PC. The name of the depositor in the said receipt is that of the deceased late Sh. Umrao Singh.
11. The aforesaid claim of the petitioner has gone un rebutted and nobody appeared on behalf of public at large to contest the aforesaid claim of the petitioner. There is also no impediment U/S 370 of the Act to grant of Succession Certificate with respect to debts/securities as mentioned above. Therefore, I deem it fit to allow the petition. Accordingly, the petition is hereby allowed.
12. In view of above, I hold that the petitioner Smt. Kalawati is entitled for the grant of Succession Certificate U/S 373 of the Act in respect of the aforementioned debts and securities having total value of Rs.50,000/- alongwith any interest, Succession No.169/09 Page 5/6 accrued thereon, if any.
13. Accordingly, Succession Certificate be issued to the petitioner Smt. Kalawati Devi on filing of court fee of Rs.1250/ in terms of Article 12 Schedule 1 of the court fee Act 1870 as applicable to Delhi and an indemnity bond in the sum of Rs. 50,000/ with one surety in the like amount. File be consigned to Record Room.
Announced in open court (Ajay Singh Shekhawat)
th
on 29 March, 2014 Administrative Civil Judge
(South), New Delhi
Succession No.169/09 Page 6/6