Delhi District Court
Kamal Joshi vs State on 18 September, 2023
IN THE COURT OF MS. AKRITI MAHENDRU
ACJ-cum-CCJ-cum-ARC, SHAHDARA
KARKARDOOMA COURTS, DELHI.
SC No.113/22
1. Kamal Joshi
W/o Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi
R/o 27/76 Street No. 8,
Vishwas Nagar, Shahdara,
Delhi-110032.
2. Shikha Joshi
D/o Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi
R/o 27/76 Street No. 8,
Vishwas Nagar, Shahdara,
Delhi-110032.
3. Chirag Joshi
S/o Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi
R/o 27/76 Street No. 8,
Vishwas Nagar, Shahdara,
Delhi-110032.
4. Sidharth Joshi
S/o Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi
R/o 27/76 Street No. 8,
Vishwas Nagar, Shahdara,
Delhi-110032. ........Petitioners
Versus
1. State through
SDM (Shahdara)
At:- A-Block, First Floor,
DC Office Complex
Nand Nagri Delhi-110093. ......Respondent
SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 1 of 7
PETITION FOR GRANT OF SUCCESSION CERTIFICATE UNDER
SECTION 372 OF THE INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT, 1925
1. Date of Institution of Petition : 24.08.2022
2. Date of Judgment : 18.09.2023
3. Decision : Petition Allowed
JUDGMENT
1. Vide this judgment, this Court shall dispose of the petition filed by the Petitioners for grant of succession certificate in favour of the Petitioner No. 1 in respect of Shares of Canara Bank, valued at Rs.1,25,000/- (Rupees One Lac Twenty Five Thousand only) existing in the name of Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi.
2. In the petition, it is inter-alia pleaded that Petitioner no. 1 is the wife, Petitioner no. 2 is the daughter and Petitioner no. 3 & 4 are the sons of the deceased late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi who passed away intestate on 02.11.2020; apart from the Petitioner No. 1 to 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 No. 1.
3. Perusal of the record reveals that the notice of this petition was given to the general public by way of publication in the newspaper 'Veer Arjun' on 29.11.2022. In response to the notice, no person from the general public came forward to raise any objection to grant of succession certificate to the petitioner.
4. During the summary proceedings conducted as per Section 373 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, 07 persons were examined as witnesses namely, SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 2 of 7 PW-1 Smt. Kamal Joshi, PW-2 Ms. Shikha Joshi, PW-3 Mr. Chirag Joshi, PW-4 Mr. Sidharth Joshi, PW-5 Satyansh Maurya, Assistant Manager, SEBI, PW-6 Sh. Pushpak, AR, Kfin Technologies Ltd., RTA of Canara Bank and RW-1 Sh. D.K. Bansal, Kanungo, SDM Office, Vivek Vihar.
5. PW-1 Ms. Kamal Joshi filed her evidence by way of affidavit in the form of Ex.PW1/A, wherein she reiterated the contents of the petition and relied upon documents i.e. photocopy of death certificate of her husband Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi Ex.PW1/1 (OSR), photocopy of her Aadhar Card Ex.PW1/2 (OSR), photocopy of Aadhar Card of her daughter Ms. Shikha Joshi Ex.PW1/3 (OSR), Photocopy of Voter ID Card of her son Mr. Chirag Joshi Ex.PW1/4 (OSR), photocopy of Aadhar Card of her son Sh. Sidharth Joshi Ex. PW1/5 (OSR), photocopy of Share Certificate in the name of husband Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi Ex.PW1/6 (OSR) and photocopy of Aadhar Card her husband Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi Ex.PW1/7 (OSR).
6. PW-2 Ms. Shikha Joshi filed her evidence by way of affidavit in the form of Ex.PW2/A. She stated that she is the daughter of the deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi and has no objection if succession certificate is issued by this court in favour of the Petitioner No. 1 qua debts and securities averred in the present petition in respect of deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi. Her affidavit of evidence in this regard was Ex.PW2/1 and copy of her ID proof i.e. Aadhar Card was Ex.PW1/3 (OSR).
7. PW-3 Mr. Chirag Joshi filed his evidence by way of affidavit in the form of Ex.PW3/A. He stated that he is the son of the deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi and has no objection if succession certificate is issued by this court in favour of the Petitioner No. 1 qua debts and securities averred in the present petition in respect of deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi. His SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 3 of 7 affidavit of evidence in this regard was Ex.PW3/1 and copy of his ID proof was Ex.PW1/4 (OSR).
8. PW-4 Mr. Sidharth Joshi filed his evidence by way of affidavit in the form of Ex.PW4/A. He stated that he is the son of the deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi and has no objection if succession certificate is issued by this court in favour of the Petitioner No. 1 qua debts and securities averred in the present petition in respect of deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi. His affidavit of evidence in this regard was Ex.PW4/1 and copy of his ID proof i.e. Aadhar Card was Ex.PW1/5 (OSR).
9. PW-5 Sh. Satyansh Maurya, Assistant Manager, SEBI, NBCC Complex, East Kidwai Nagar, New Delhi was summoned as summoned witness and he brought the valuation report with respect to 63 shares of Canara Bank in the name of Late Sh. Satender Kumar Joshi as per which the total valuation of shares was Rs.17,249.4/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Forty Nine and Four Paisa Only) as on 24.03.2023. He deposed that there was no nominee registered in respect of the aforesaid shares. The valuation report alongwith statement of shares were Ex.PW5/A (colly) and copy of his ID proof was Ex.PW5/B (OSR).
10. PW-6 Sh. Pushpak, AR, Kfin Technologies Ltd., RTA of Canara Bank, New Delhi House, 27 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi was summoned as summoned witness and he brought the valuation report with respect to 63 shares of Canara Bank having Folio No. CNB791134 in the name of Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi as per which the total valuation of shares was Rs.17,350.20/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Three Hundred Fifty and Twenty Paisa Only) as on 23.02.2023. He deposed that there was no nominee registered in the aforesaid shares. The true copy of share valuation report was Ex.PW6/A (colly) and copy SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 4 of 7 of his ID proof was Ex.PW6/B (OSR).
11. RW-1 Sh. D.K. Bansal, Kanungo, SDM Office, Vivek Vihar, Delhi, appeared on behalf of Respondent no. 1 i.e. SDM office, Vivek Vihar and filed report regarding the legal heirs of deceased namely Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi S/o Sh. Jagdish Ram Joshi, who passed away on 02.11.2020 leaving behind four legal heirs namely Smt. Kamal Joshi (Wife), Smt. Shikha Joshi (daughter), Sh. Chirag Joshi (Son) and Sh. Sidharth Joshi (Son). Report of the Executive Magistrate, Vivek Vihar, Delhi was Ex.RW1/1, application form/verification form along-with copies of IDs of witnesses was Ex.RW1/2 (collectively) and his ID proof was Ex.RW1/3 (OSR).
12. During the course of final arguments, Ld. Counsel for the petitioners referred to the testimonies of PW-1 to PW-4 & RW-1 and submitted that the material on record was sufficient to conclude that the Petitioner No. 1 to 4 were the only surviving legal heirs of the deceased Late Sh. Satinder Joshi; that Petitioner No. 2 to 4 have no objection if succession certificate is issued by this court in favour of Petitioner No. 1; that the testimony of PW-5 Sh. Satyansh Maurya proved that 63 shares having total valuation of shares of Rs.17,249.4/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Forty Nine and Four Paisa Only) as on 24.03.2023 existed with Canara Bank in the name of Late Sh. Satender Kumar Joshi; that the testimony of PW-6 Sh. Pushpak proved that 63 shares having Folio No. CNB791134 having total valuation of shares of Rs.17,350.20/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Three Hundred Fifty and Twenty Paisa Only) as on 23.02.2023 existed with Canara Bank, in the name of Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi and there was no impediment in grant of succession certificate in favour of the Petitioner No. 1, that on the basis of the aforesaid submissions, Petitioner No. 1 is entitled to grant of succession certificate.
13. I have heard the submissions advanced by Ld. Counsel for the SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 5 of 7 petitioner, perused the record and gone through the relevant provisions of law.
14. The testimonies of RW-1 prove that the deceased Late Sh. Satinder Kumar Joshi has already passed away and the Petitioner No. 1 to 4 are the only known surviving legal heirs of the deceased. The testimony of PW-5 Sh. Satyansh Maurya and PW-6 Sh. Pushpak proved that 63 shares having total valuation of Rs.17,249.4/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Forty Nine and Four Paisa Only) as on 24.03.2023 and Rs.17,350.20/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Three Hundred Fifty and Twenty Paisa Only) as on 23.02.2023 existed with Kfin Technologies ltd. existed in the name of Late Sh. Satender Kumar Joshi. Petitioners No. 2 to 4 have no objection if succession certificate is issued by this court in favour of Petitioner No. 1. No one else has come forward to oppose this succession petition despite publication in newspaper.
15. In light of the aforesaid facts and circumstances and on the basis of the material placed on record, this court is of the view that Petitioner No. 1 is entitled to succession certificate and there exists no impediment in grant of succession certificate to her. Thus, the present petition qua the grant of succession certificate in respect of 63 shares of Canara Bank bearing Folio No. CNB791134 having total valuation of shares of Rs.17,350.20/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Three Hundred Fifty and Twenty Paisa Only) as on 23.02.2023 existing with Kfin Technologies Ltd., RTA of Canara Bank is hereby allowed. Accordingly, succession certificate be issued in favour of the Petitioner No. 1, upon filing of requisite court fees and indemnity bond by the Petitioner No. 1, with one surety.
16. The succession certificate shall be considered only as an entitlement of the Petitioner No. 1 to receive the amount of aforesaid 63 shares. The SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 6 of 7 succession certificate shall not be considered as a direction as such to Kfin Technologies Ltd., 305, New Delhi House, 27 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi to release the amount of aforesaid 63 shares to the Petitioner No. 1 and they shall be competent to seek compliance of formalities, if any, by the Petitioner No. 1 for securing release of amount of the aforesaid 63 shares, as per rules. File be consigned to record room after due compliance.
Announced in the open Court (AKRITI MAHENDRU) on 18th Day of September, 2023. ACJ-CCJ-ARC/Shahdara, KKD/Delhi SC No. 113/22 Kamal Joshi Vs. State 7 of 7