Delhi District Court
Ved Mehra vs State on 4 September, 2019
: IN THE COURT OF SACHIN SANGWAN
ADDITIONAL RENT CONTROLLER (SOUTH):
COURT ROOM NO. 204, SAKET COURTS: NEW DELHI
SUCCESSION CASE NO. 48/2018
Ved Mehra
S/o late Sh. Uttam Chand Mehra
R/o H. No. D206, Saket, New Delhi
......... Petitioner
Vs.
1. State
2. Sh. Sachin Mehra
S/o Sh. Ved Mehra
R/o H. No. D206, Saket, New Delhi
3. Dr. Divya Malhotra,
W/o Dr Sandeep Malhotra,
R/o E51, First Floor, Greater Kailash I,
New Delhi
............Respondents
Application for grant of Succession Certificate U/S 372 of
Indian Succession Act, 1925.
DATE OF INSTITUTION : 04.05.2018
DATE OF RESERVING ORDER : 04.09.2019
DATE OF PRONOUNCEMENT : 04.09.2019
JUDGMENT
1. Vide this judgment, I shall dispose off the petition (amended) filed by the petitioner Ved Mehra 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 Smt Renu Mehra.
2. The facts relevant for the disposal of the present petition are that Smt. Renu Mehra, wife of the petitioner, expired on 24.04.2006. It has further been stated that deceased was having debts and securities in the form of shares and a saving bank account with Bank of Maharashtra.
Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 1/73. It is claimed that petitioner is one of the legal heir/ representative of deceased alongwith respondent no.2 & 3 namely Sachin Mehra and Dr. Divya Malhotra (children of deceased). As per petitioner, there is no impediment under the provision of the Act in the grant of succession certificate in his favour.
4. A notice of the petition was published in the daily newspaper "The Statesman" and "Veer Arjun" on 06.06.2018 and 03.05.2018 respectively inviting objections on behalf of general public to the grant of succession certificate in favour of the applicant / 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.
5. On 09.07.2018, Mr Anil Kumar Dawar, Manager, Bank of Maharashtra, Press Enclave Branch had appeared before the court and had filed account statement in respect of saving bank account No.20042993759 in the name of Rameshwari Mehra and Renu Mehra. He stated that mode of operation is either or survivor, having balance of Rs.2,62,735.21/ as on 09.07.2018. Statement is Ex.P1.
6. On the same day, Mr Gaurav Singh, Advocate appeared on behalf of SRF Ltd and filed authority letter dated 09.07.2018 in the name of Ms Ekta Maheswari alongwith details of shares alongwith internet generated rate of share as on 06.07.2018. As per same, it is confirmed that following 189 shares are in the name of Mrs Renu Mehra under Folio No.R 0001980 and the average latest price as per BSE & NSE are approx Rs.1640/ per share : Sr No. Certificate No. Dist from Dist To No. of shares 1 140270 5706717 5706728 12 2 334125 16399278 16399327 50 3 334126 16399328 16399328 01 Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 2/7 4 483125 24419070 24419119 50 5 483126 24419120 24419120 01 6 976605 18591096 18591120 25 7 90170073 12917495 12917544 50 Total 189
7. The petitioner was examined as PW1 on 21.01.2019 who deposed on the lines of the facts as averred in his petition. He had relied upon the following documents:
a) copy of passport of deponent as Ex.PW1/A (OSR),
b) passport of deceased Renu Mehra as Ex.PW1/B (OSR)
c) death certificate of deceased wife Renu Mehra as Ex.PW1/C (OSR)
d) death certificate of Smt Rameshwari Devi Mehra, mother of deponent as Ex.PW1/D (OSR)
e) passbook of Bank of Maharashtra in the joint name of deceased Smt. Rameshwari and Smt. R. Mehra as Ex.PW1/E (OSR)
f) internet generated value of shares in the name of deceased Renu Mehra alongwith summary thereof as Ex.PW1/F (colly) supported with certificate u/s 65B of the Indian Evidence Act as Ex.PW1/G
g) publication done in the newspapers The Statesman and Veer Arjun as Ex.PW1/H (colly)
h) dividend / share certificates in respect of companies i.e. ITC Ltd (3600 shares), SRF Limited (189 shares), Brandhouse Retails Ltd (20 shares), Shree Krishna Polyster Ltd (300 shares), Garware Nylons Ltd (75 shares), Jension & Nicholson (India) Limited (124 shares), Finolex Industries Limited (1725 shares), Manali Petrochemicals Limited (3150 shares), Tamilnadu Petroproducts Limited (2050 shares) as Ex.PW1/I (OSR) (colly)
i) copy of summary of shares of Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation Ltd (final call notice) marked as Mark A (original of said shares except the certificates mentioned at Sr. No.41 to 46 and at Sr. No.56 to 60 are seen and returned),
j) copies of shares in respect of Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Limited (120 shares), Escorts Financial Services Limited (100 shares) and Eskay Knit (India) Ltd (100 shares) as Ex.PW1/J (OSR) (colly) (these shares are not mentioned in the petition as the same were not traceable at that time) Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 3/7
8. The petitioner was further examined on 06.04.2019 and he relied upon originals of shares of Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd (SPIC) (2450 shares) (as mentioned in Mark A at Sr. No.1 to 40 and from 47 to 55). Copies thereof is Ex.PW1/K (colly) (OSR) (except shares mentioned at Sr.No. 41 to 46 and no. 56 to 60).
9. He further deposed that the shares as mentioned at Sr.No.41 to 46 in Mark A are missing and he made correspondence with the company through email and in response to that, an email dated 14.02.2019 was received on behalf of Investor Services Cell, Cameo Corporate Services Ltd mentioning the details of 300 shares in the name of Renu Mehra bearing Folio No.R0002322, Certificate No.6957769582 with distinctive no.1495478114955080. Said Email dated 14.02.2019 is Ex.PW1/L and the certificate u/s 65B of Indian Evidence Act in support of said email is Ex.PW1/M.
10. He further deposed that the shares of SPIC as mentioned at Sr. No.56 to 60 in Mark A are missing and PW1 wishes to forgo the same. He deposed that he is not pressing for issuance of succession certificate qua said shares of SPIC as mentioned at Sr.No.56 to 60 in Mark A.
11. He further relied upon 4500 more shares of Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd (SPIC) (not mentioned in Mark A). Copies thereof are Ex.PW1/N (colly)(OSR).
12. He further deposed that the shares of Milton Plastic as mentioned in the amended petition filed on 06.04.2019 are not traceable and he wishes to forgo the same. He deposed that he is not pressing for issuance of succession certificate qua said shares of Milton Plastic.
13. Thereafter, petitioner led additional evidence and relied upon valuation of shares of Eskay Knit Ltd and Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 4/7 Ltd, obtained from internet. Same is Ex.PW1/O (colly). He further relied upon summary of value of all shares in the name of deceased as Ex.PW1/P.
14. Thereafter, petitioner has filed annexure giving the details of missing shares with folio number and got recorded his statement that he is not claiming succession certificate qua the said missing shares of deceased Mrs Renu Mehra. Further, counsel for petitioner got recorded his statement today that he has instructions from petitioner that total number of shares of following companies and their value shall be treated as follows :
1. Garware Nylons Ltd 75 shares market Value Zero
2. Finolex - 1725 shares - market value Rs.9,04,158.75/
3. T N Petro Products Ltd - 2050 shares - market value Rs.68265/
15. It is prayed that succession certificate may be issued mentioning above number of shares and their values qua respective shares of companies in the Annexure A filed on behalf of petitioner at later stage on 07.08.2019. Thus, details of debts and securities finally claimed by petitioner are as follows : Sr No Company No. of shares Price of share Value of share 1 ITC 3600 260.45 937620 Folio No.13/27008 2 SRF 189 2854.10 539424.9 Folio No.R 1980 3 SPIC 6900 18.85 130065 Folio No.s ER002322 /ER002319/ER002320/ER00231 8/ER002317/R2317/R2319/R232 0/R2322/ER017560/ER017558/E R017556/ER017558 4 Brand House Retail 20 0.00 00 Folio No.453 5 Shree Krishna Polyster Ltd 300 0.00 00 Folio No.38564 6 Escort Financial Services Ltd 100 2.47 247 Folio No.ES1259 Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 5/7 7 Garware Nylons Ltd 75 0.00 00 Folio No.GWM01153 8 Jenson Nickelson Ltd 124 0.00 00 Folio No.DM/00307 9 Eskay Knit Ltd 100 0.19 19 Folio No.R09866 10 Finolex 1725 524.15 904158.75/ Folio No.R03814/R30120 11 Manali Petrochemical Ltd 3150 18.30 57645 Folio No. B0038905/B0039574/B0039575/ B0039525/B0039576/B0039524/ B0039580 12 T N Petro Products Ltd 2050 33.30 68265 Folio No. 60679/60680/60681/60682/60678 13 Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises 120 11.55 1386 Folio No.R12116 14 Bank of Maharashtra, Saving account no.20042993759 262735.21/ Total 29,01,565.86/
16. I have heard submission of counsel for petitioner and have gone through the records.
17. The copy of death certificate Ex.PW1/C reflects that deceased Smt. Renu Mehra expired on 24.04.2006. Further, death certificate Ex.PW1/D shows that Smt Rameshwari Devi, mother of petitioner expired on 29.08.1994. Further, copy of passport Ex.PW1/B shows that deceased Renu Mehra was wife of petitioner herein and establishes the relationship of petitioner with the deceased. Further, on 07.12.2018, respondent no.2 Sachin Mehra has got recorded his statement stating therein that he is son of petitioner Sh. Ved Mehra and deceased Smt. Renu Mehra who expired on 24.04.2006. He further stated that his sister Mrs. Divya Malhotra/respondent no.3 is residing in US and he was present at her residence in US when she had executed her NOC stating that she has no objection in case, succession Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 6/7 certificate qua the debts and securities of her mother is issued in favour of petitioner / father. Her NOC is Ex.P2. He further stated that he has also no objection if the succession certificate qua debts and security of his mother late Smt Renu Mehra is issued in favour of petitioner who is his father.
18. The aforesaid claim of the petitioner have gone unrebutted 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.
19. In view of above, I hold that the petitioner Sh. Ved Mehra, S/o late Sh Uttam Chand Mehra is entitled for the grant of Succession Certificate U/S 372 of the Act in respect of debts and securities as mentioned in paragraph 15 above. It is however, clarified that rights and interest of legal heirs of deceased late Smt. Renu Mehra, interse, is not decided vide this order which is confined to issuance of succession certificate only.
20. Accordingly, Succession Certificate be issued to Sh. Ved Mehra, S/o late Sh Uttam Chand Mehra on filing of court fee as prescribed in terms of Article 12 Schedule 1 of the court fee Act 1870 as applicable to Delhi and an Indemnity Bond with one surety in the like amount for the value of debts and securities as detailed herein above.
21. File be consigned to Record Room after due compliance.
Digitally signed by SACHIN SACHIN SANGWAN
SANGWAN Date: 2019.09.05
16:30:20 +0530
Announced in the open court (Sachin Sangwan)
on 04.09.2019 Administrative Civil Judgecum
Additional Rent Controllercum
Commercial Civil Judge: (South):
Saket District Courts: New Delhi
Succession No. 48/2018 Ved Mehra Vs The State & Ors. Page 7/7