Delhi District Court
Shalimar Bagh vs State on 31 July, 2012
IN THE COURT OF SH. PARVEEN SINGH, ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL
JUDGE (NORTH WEST) ROHINI COURTS, DELHI
Petition No. : SCC 57/11.
Date of Institution : 27.05.2011.
Date of arguments : 31.07.2012
Date of Judgment : 31.07.2012.
In the matter of:
Smt. Phooli Devi
Wife of Late Shri Tara Chand
Resident of House No. 103
Village Singal Pur
Shalimar Bagh, Delhi110088 ....Petitioner
Versus
1. State
2. Shri. Dharamvir
Son of Late Shri Tara Chand
Resident of House No. 103
Village Singal Pur
SCC No. 57/11. 1
Shalimar Bagh, Delhi110088
3. State Bank of India
through its Manager
Shalimar Bagh Branch
Block BT, Opp. Singal Pur
Delhi110088
4. Smt. Kamla Devi
D/o Late Sh. Jhandu Singh
Resident of BS31C
Shalimar Bagh, Delhi110088 .....Respondents
J U D G M E N T:
Vide this judgment, I shall dispose off the petition filed on behalf of the petitioner Smt. Phooli Devi under section 372 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 for obtaining succession certificate in respect of an amount of Rs 7,57,086/ lying in Bank Account No. 31481331411 with State Bank of India, Shalimar Bagh in the name of Late Sh. Tara Chand.
The relevant facts for the disposal of the present petition are that Late Sh. Tara Chand, the husband of the petitioner expired on 17.04.2011. It is further stated that Late Sh. Tara Chand had left behind petitioner and one son SCC No. 57/11. 2 namely Dharamvir as his classI legal heirs. It is further alleged that there is no impediment in the grant of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner Smt. Phooli Devi being class I legal heir of the deceased in respect of Bank Account No. 31481331411 with State Bank of India, Shalimar Bagh Branch of Late Sh. Tara Chand.
2. General public had been served through publication in daily newspaper 'Rashtriya Sahara' dated 20.07.2011 but none had appeared from the general public to oppose or contest the present petition.
3. Petitioner has examined herself as PW1 deposing on the lines of facts as alleged in the petition and in support of her oral testimony relied upon documents i.e. death certificate of Sh. Tara Chand Ex. PW1/1, her election identity card Ex. PW1/2, ration card Ex. PW1/3, copy of RTI Application Ex. PW1/4, reply Ex. PW1/5.
Respondent, Sh Dharamvir has been examined wherein he has given his no objections with regard to the present petition in favour of the petitioner.
On service of notice, respondent no. 4 Kamla Devi had appeared and thereafter filed her written statement/ objections in respect of the present claim of the petitioner. In the Written Statement, it is stated that the respondent SCC No. 57/11. 3 no. 4/ objector was the real sister of the deceased Tara Chand and that the deceased had made the respondent no. 4 his nominee in the Saving Bank Account no. 31481331411 at State Bank of India, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi as per the provisions of Section 45ZA of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, after the cancellation of nomination of his son Dharamvir, who was the respondent no. 2 in the present petition. It is further stated that the cancellation of nomination of respondent no. 2 and nomination of respondent no. 4, was admitted by the petitioner but the petitioner also alleged that the same was done in connivance of the bank officials and that her husband had changed the name of nominee under the influence of liquor. It is further stated that the deceased had cancelled the nomination of his son because he had no trust or faith in his son and was under a constant fear that his son, being a nominee in the account, would make some false documents to withdraw the money. It is further stated that the deceased had made the respondent no. 4 his nominee out of his free will and that the deceased had clear intentions and desire to give this amount to the respondent no. 4. It is also stated that respondent no. 2 had no respect for the deceased Tara Chand and they used to threat him regularly to either pay the money to them or face dire consequences and that the deceased Tara Chand was having daily meals at the residence of respondent no. 4. It is further stated that Late Tara Chand had expired on 17.04.11 in the mysterious circumstances and that, infact he had succumbed to death due to the lathi blow on his head, given by the SCC No. 57/11. 4 respondent no. 2. That respondent no. 4 in this respect had filed various complaints before various authorities. It is further stated that the respondent no. 4 is legally entitled to receive the amount lying in the above mentioned Saving Bank Account as the nomination of respondent no. 2 had been cancelled in the prescribed manner and the nomination of respondent no. 4 has been made in the prescribed manner and the same has been duly acknowledged by the State Bank of India vide acknowledgment slip dt 22.03.2011.
In the rejoinder to the objections filed by the respondent no. 4, petitioner had denied each and every avernment made by the respondent no. 4 and reaffirmed the present petition.
4. I have given my thoughtful consideration to the submissions and have perused the record carefully.
It has been admitted by the petitioner that the respondent no. 3 is a nominee in the bank account of the deceased for which succession certificate is being sought. However, it is a well settled law that the nomination does not confer any beneficial right or interest upon the nominee on the property or the estates of the deceased beyond what is provided as a right to the nominee under the law of land. It is also a well settled law that the nomination is only for the purposes of collection of the dues of the deceased such as GPF, Life Insurance, SCC No. 57/11. 5 gratuity etc. but, the nominee is duty bound to distribute the amount, so received according to the Law of Succession. In this regard reliance is placed upon the judgment cited in 2009 IX AD (S.C) 228, civil appeal no. 809 of 2002 titled as 'Shipra Sengupta & Mridul Sengupta & Others'.
The succession certificate is to be issued by this court, only by following the Law of Succession. As per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 the wife and the son of the deceased are the class I legal heirs and in the present case, petitioner is the wife of the deceased and respondent no. 2 is the son of the deceased whereas the respondent no. 4/ Objector is the sister of the deceased and is not the class I legal heir. Therefore, in the presence of class I legal heirs, respondent no. 4, who is a class II legal heir, does not have any right to the property of the deceased who had died intestate. In these circumstances, merely because there is a nomination in the favour of respondent no. 4, she can not claim to have a succession certificate in her favour nor can she cause obstructions in the issuance of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner and respondent no. 2.
5. In view of the above discussion, the objections filed by the respondent no. 4 are dismissed and the petition in hand is allowed as there is no impediment in the grant of Succession Certificate in favour of petitioner Smt. Phooli Devi in respect of an amount of Rs 7,57,086/ lying in Bank Account No. SCC No. 57/11. 6 31481331411 with State Bank of India, Shalimar Bagh in the name of Late Sh. Tara Chand as the respondent no. 2 had already relinquished his share in favour of the petitioner. Accordingly, Succession Certificate is ordered to be issued in favour of petitioner Smt. Phooli Devi in respect of the above, on furnishing of an Indemnity Bond of the same value with one surety of like amount within one month. File be consigned to Record Room.
Announced in the open court (PARVEEN SINGH)
on 31.07.2012. ACJCUMARC NORTHWEST
This judgment contains 7 pages ROHINI COURTS, DELHI
& each page has been signed by me.
SCC No. 57/11. 7
SCC No. 57/11.
31.07.2012.
Present: Counsel for the petitioner.
Final arguments have been heard.
Vide separate judgment of even date, petition filed u/s 372 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 on behalf of the petitioner is allowed and disposed off.
File be consigned to Record Room.
(PARVEEN SINGH) ACJcumARC (North West) Rohini Courts, Delhi/31.07.2012.
SCC No. 57/11. 8