Delhi District Court
Angoori Devi vs State And Ors on 15 October, 2024
IN THE COURT OF MS. RICHA GUSAIN SOLANKI,
DISTRICT JUDGE-02, SOUTH-WEST DISTRICT, DWARKA
COURTS, NEW DELHI
PC No. 57/2019
CNR No. DLSW010116602019
IN THE MATTER OF:
Smt Angoori Devi
W/o Late Sh. Hira Lal
R/o Village Paprawat
Post Najafgarh
New Delhi - 110074 ... Petitioner
vs.
1. State
Through SDM (South West)
Kapashera, New Delhi ... Respondent No.1
2. Sh. Sunil Kumar
s/o Late Sh Hira Lal ... Respondent No.2
3. Sh. Surender Kumar
s/o Late Sh Hira Lal ... Respondent No.3
4. Sh. Sanjay Kumar
s/o Late Sh Hira Lal ... Respondent No.4
5. Sh Ajit Kumar
s/o Late Sh Hira Lal ... Respondent No.5
6. Smt Savita
W/o Late Sh Anil Kumar ... Respondent No.6
7. Sh. Amit
S/o Late Sh Anil Kumar ... Respondent No.7
8. Ms Rosy
D/o Late Sh Anil Kumar ... Respondent No.8
PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 1/7
9. Mr Chinu
s/o Late Sh Anil Kumar ... Respondent No.9
All respondent Nos. 2 to 9 are residents of:
Village Paprawat, Post Najafgarh
New Delhi
Date of institution of the petition 09.10.2019
Date of reserving judgment 15.10.2024
Date of pronouncement of judgment 15.10.2024
JUDGMENT
1. This is a petition for grant of Letter of Administration of the Will dated 05.07.2018 of Late Sh. Hira lal (hereinafter referred to as "the deceased".)
2. Briefly stated, it is the case of the petitioner that she is the widow of the deceased and the mother of respondent Nos. 2 to 5. It is further averred that another son of the petitioner, namely, Sh. Anil Kumar had pre-deceased her and respondent Nos. 6 to 9 are his Class I legal heirs.
3. It is further averred that petitioner and deceased has already renounced their son, namely, Virender Kumar and his family through publication in Dainik Jagran and Jansatta.
4. It is further averred that the deceased passed away on 05.10.2018.
5. It is further averred in the petition that deceased was the owner of the following movable and immovable properties:-
Movable property: Bank account bearing No. PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 2/7 3081000100051081 Punjab National Bank, Paprawat, New Delhi Immovable properties:
(i) Half share in land measuring 7 bigha 2 biswas comprised in Mustil No. 9, Khasra No. 18/2 (1 Bigha 8 Biswa) and Khasra No. 19(5 Bigha 14 Biswas), Village Paprawat, New Delhi - 110043,
(ii) 1 Bigha 10 Biswas of agricultural land comprised in Mustil No. 9, Khasra No. 12/2 (10 biswas) and Khasra No. 13/1 (1 bigha), Village Paprawat, Najafgarh, New Delhi and
(iii) House ad-measuring 4 Biswas comprised in Khasra No. 242, Village Paprawat Najafgarh, New Delhi
6. It is further stated that during his lifetime, the deceased had made a Will dated 05.07.2018 bequeathing all his immovable and movable properties in favour of the petitioner.
7. Hence, it is prayed that being the Letter of Administration of Will dated 05.07.2018 be granted to the petitioner.
8. This Court issued a notice of the petition to the respondents/ close relatives of the deceased and a citation was published in the English daily 'The Statesman' and the Hindi daily 'Rashtriya Sahara' on 16.12.2021. A notice was also displayed at the notice board of this Court.
9. Despite service, none of the respondents entered appearance.
10. Pursuant to the service of notice upon the Branch Manger, PNB, Paprawat Branch, New Delhi, Mr Rajesh Kumar PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 3/7 Karan, Deputy Manager appeared before this court and deposed that the bank has already transferred the amount from the bank account of the deceased to the account of the petitioner through NEFT and filed the transaction documents i.e Ex P-1 and Ex P-2.
11.A notice was also issued to the concerned SDM/Collector to file the valuation report. In response to this, the SDM Kapashera, filed a valuation report, which is as under:-
S.No. Details of property Amount
1. Half share in land measuring 7 Rs 39,19,791/-
bigha 2 biswas comprised Khasra No. 18/2 (1 Bigha 8 Biswa) and Khasra No. 19(5 Bigha 14 Biswas) Village Paprawat
2. 1 Bigha 10 Biswas Khasra No. Rs 16,56,250/-
12/2 (10 biswas) and Khasra No. 13/1 (1 bigha) Village Paprawat
3. House in Khasra No. 242 Village Rs 43,73,438/-
Paprawat.
12. In order to prove their case, the petitioners examined two witnesses:
13.The petitioner/PW1 tendered her evidence by way of affidavit Ex.PW1/A and relied upon the following documents:-
S. No. Document relied on Marked as
1. Death certificate of the deceased Ex PW1/1
2. Notification of debarring Virender Mark 'A'
Kumar
3. Copy of the aadhaar card of the Ex PW1/3 (OSR)
petitioner
4. Will dated 05.07.2018 Mark 'B'
5. Revenue record of agricultural land at Mark 'C' PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 4/7 Village Paprawat
6. Revenue record of house in Khasra No. Mark 'D' 242, Village Paprawat
7. Statement of bank account bearing No. Already Ex P-1 3081000100051081 PNB, Paprawat New Delhi
14.Sh. Krishan Kumar/PW2 tendered his evidence by way of affidavit Ex.PW2/A. He deposed that he was one of the attesting witnesses to the Will executed by the deceased in favour of the petitioner. He identified the signatures of the deceased on the Will Ex PW2/A at point 'A' and his signature on the Will at point 'B'. PW-2 further deposed that another attesting witness, namely, Devender Kumar Yadav has also signed the Will in his presence. He testified that at the time of execution of the Will, the deceased was in a sound and disposing state of mind.
15.On careful perusal and examination of the case record, it is observed that the jurisdiction of this Court has been rightly invoked by the petitioners as the subject property is situated within the territorial jurisdiction of this Court.
16.It is a settled law that the court of probate is only concerned with the question as to whether the document put forward as the last Will and testament of the deceased person was duly executed and attested in accordance with law and whether at the time of such execution the testator had sound disposing mind. The question whether a particular bequest is good or bad is not the preview of the probate court. Therefore, the only issue in a probate PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 5/7 proceedings relates to the genuineness and due execution of the Will. Reliance is placed on the judgment in the case of Ishwardeo Narain Singh vs Sm. Kamta Devi And Ors., AIR 1954 SC 280.
17.Thus, what is germane for this Court to decide is whether the Will in question is a genuine Will and whether the testator was of sound mind at the time of signing and attestation of the Will.
18.The onus of proving the Will is on the propounder and in the absence of suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of the Will, proof of testamentary capacity and the signature of the testator as required by law is sufficient to discharge the onus.
19.In order to discharge their onus, the petitioner has examined Sh Krishan Kumar (PW2) who deposed that the Will Ex PW2/A was executed by the deceased in his presence and he identified his signature on the Will at point 'A'. He also identified his signatures at point 'B' and deposed that other attesting witness, namely,Devender Kumar Yadav also signed on the Will Ex PW2/A in his presence.
20. Thus, the Will in question stands duly proved as per the requirement of Section 63 of the Act and Section 68 of the Evidence Act, 1872.
21.No objections were received to this petition. Resultantly, this Court observes that there is no impediment in granting the letter of administration of the Will in favour of the petitioner.
PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 6/722.In view of the above factual and legal position, I hold that the petitioners has proved that the deceased had duly executed the Will dated 05.07.2018, which was his last Will and testament.
23.In view of the observations made above, let the Letter of Administration of Will dated 05.072018 of Late Sh Hira Lal be granted in favour of the petitioner with the seal of this Court in the form set forth in Schedule VII of the Act on the petitioner furnishing:
a) ad-valorem court fees of the value of the subject properties as per the valuation report filed by SDM,
b) furnishing administration bonds (personal) under Section 291 of the Act, and
c) filing within six months from the grant of the Letter of Administration an inventory as prescribed in Section 317 of the Act. Since the petitioner is also the sole beneficiary under the Will, the filing yearly compliances is dispensed with.
24.File be consigned to record room only after completion of formalities and due compliance.
Digitally signed by RICHA RICHA GUSAIN GUSAIN SOLANKI
SOLANKI Date: 2024.10.15 17:18:12
+0530
Pronounced in the open court (RICHA GUSAIN SOLANKI)
on 15th October 2024 District Judge-02 South West
Dwarka Courts Complex
New Delhi
PC No.57/2019 Angoori Devi vs. State & Ors Page No. 7/7