Delhi District Court
Sumeet Kumar Kharb vs The State And Ors on 27 March, 2024
IN THE COURT OF MS. ANURADHA JINDAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL JUDGE-CUM-COMMERCIAL
CASES JUDGE-CUM-ADDITIONAL RENT
CONTROLLER, SOUTH WEST DISTRICT, DWARKA
COURTS, NEW DELHI
DLSW030025612020
CNR No. : DLSW03-002561-2020
Under Section : 372 of The Indian Succession Act,
1925
Sumeet Kumar Kharb versus The State & Ors.
a) Succession Court Case No. : 86/2020
b) Name & address of the : Sumeet Kumar Kharb
petitioner S/o Late Sh. Suresh Kumar
Kharb, R/o RZ-43, Nanda
Enclave, Najafgarh, New
Delhi
c) Name & address of the : 1. State
respondents
2. Vivek Kharb
S/o Late Sh. Suresh Kumar
Kharb, R/o RZ-43, Nanda
Enclave, Najafgarh, New
Delhi
Date of Institution of petition : 06.11.2020
Date of pronouncement of judgment : 27.03.2024
Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 1/9
Petition under section 372 of The Indian Succession Act, 1925
for grant of succession certificate in respect of the debts &
securities of deceased, Late Smt. Murti Devi.
JUDGEMENT
1. The Case 1.1 The present petition has been filed by the petitioner for grant of succession certificate under section 372 of The Indian Succession Act, 1925 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), in respect of debts and securities of the deceased namely Late Smt. Murti Devi.
2. Petitioner's case:
2.1 The case of the petitioner is that petitioner is the son of the deceased who expired on 04.08.2018. The deceased was the resident of H. No. RZ-43, Nanda Enclave, Najafgarh, New Delhi-110043. The husband of the deceased namely Late Sh. Suresh Kumar Kharb had expired on 14.12.2010.The deceased was survived by two class-1 legal heirs i.e. petitioner and respondent no. 2 who are stated to be the sons of the deceased.
2.2 The petitioner has approached this Court with the instant petition seeking grant of Succession Certificate in respect of securities of the deceased i.e. amount lying in Savings Bank Accounts bearing no. 31578444303 maintained with State Bank of India having branch at CRPF Campus, Jharoda Kalan, New Delhi and another Saving Bank account bearing No. 3081000100036125 in Punjab Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 2/9 National Bank having branch at VPO Paprawat, Najafgarh, New Delhi-110043. Petitioner has also sought succession certificate in respect of LIC Policy bearing No. 114835182 having Branch at Zonal Office-124, Jeevan Bharti Tower-
2, Connaught Place, Delhi-110001.
2.3 Petitioner has further prayed for issuance of Succession Certificate in respect of Locker Account bearing No. 4500797018 in Locker No. 59 maintained with Allahabad Bank having branch at Khasra No. 368, near bus stand, Village Khaira, Najafgarh, Delhi-110043
3. Summoning of the Respondents:
3.1 Notice of the petition was ordered to be published in newspaper and accordingly, publication was effected through newspaper titled as "Veer Arjun" dated 02.03.2021, however, none appeared on behalf of public at large, to raise any objection to grant of succession certificate in favour of the petitioner and respondent no. 2.
4. Respondent's Case:
4.1 Pursuant to the notice, officials from Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Allahabad Bank (now Indian Bank) and LIC appeared and filed statements of account/reply pertaining to the deceased maintained by them respectively.
4.2 Respondent no. 2/ Sh. Vivek Kharb appeared before the Court and submitted on 16.09.2022 and 27.03.2024 respectively on Oath that he has no objection, if the Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 3/9 petitioner is granted his half share in Succession Certificate in the debts and securities of the deceased. Respondent no. 2 further stated that his half share may be reserved in the debts and securities of the deceased. Statement of respondent no. 2 was recorded separately to this effect on 16.09.2022 and 27.03.2024 respectively.
5. Petitioner's Evidence:
5.1 To prove its case, Petitioner examined himself as a witness as PW-1 and tendered his evidence by way of affidavit Ex.
PW-1/A bearing her signatures at point A & B respectively and relied upon the following documents:
i. Copy of her Aadhar Card is Ex. PW-1/1 (OSR). ii. Copy of death certificate of deceased Smt. Murti Devi is Ex. PW-1/2.
iii. Copy of statement of account maintained in SBI Saving Account vide account bearing no.
31578444303 is Ex. PW-1/3 (Colly.) iv. Copy of LIC Policy bearing no. 114835182 is Ex.
PW-1/4.
v. Copy of Locker account in Allahabad Bank vide account no. 4500797018 having locker no. 59 is Ex. PW-1/5.
vi. Copy of death certificate of deceased husband is Ex.
PW- 1/6.
5.2 Petitioner further deposed that deceased was having Saving Bank Account bearing no. 3081000100036125 Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 4/9 maintained with Punjab National Bank having Branch at VPO Paprawat, Najafgarh, Delhi is Ex. PW-1/7 (Colly.).
5.3 The respondent no. 2 neither cross examined PW-1 nor led any evidence on behalf of respondent no. 2 as he had no objection to the grant of Succession Certificate in favour of the petitioner of his respective share.
5.4 Petitioner closed its evidence vide order dated 27.03.2024.
The matter was then posted for final arguments.
6. Final Arguments:
6.1 During the course of final arguments, it was submitted by Ld. Counsel for petitioner that the petitioner seek Succession Certificate in respect of his half share i.e., Rs. 90,856.04/- in the securities of the deceased out of the total amount of Rs. 1,81,712.08/- lying in following accounts i.e., Savings Bank Accounts maintained with State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank and also amount lying under LIC Policy. Respondent no. 2 who is stated to be the son of the deceased submitted that the amount of securities pertaining to the deceased is equally divided between him and petitioner. None on behalf of the public raised any objection to the present petition. Thus, it was finally prayed that Succession Certificate be issued in favour of the petitioner for his share.
7. Heard the final arguments advanced by Ld. Counsel for the petitioner and respondent no. 2. This Court has carefully Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 5/9 perused the evidence on record in light of the contents of the petition and considered the oral submissions advanced by Ld. Counsel for petitioner.
8. Appreciation and findings:
8.1 The deceased died intestate qua debts and securities which are mentioned in the petition as well as in the testimony of PW-1. The said securities are the amount lying in two Savings Bank Account and also lying under LIC Policy.
The details of the said securities are as under:
S. No. Account Branch Amount (Rs.)
Number
1. Saving Bank State Bank of India, Rs. 1,37,106.08/-
Account No. CRPF Campus,
31578444303 Jharoda Kalan, New
Delhi
2. Saving Bank Punjab National Rs. 6,984/-
Account No. Bank, VPO Paprawat,
3081000100036 Najafgarh, New Delhi
125
3. LIC Policy No. Life Insurance Rs. 37,622/-
114835182 Corporation of India,
Zonal Office 124,
Jeevan Bharti Tower-
2, Connaught Place,
Delhi-110001
Total Rs. 1,81,712.08/-
8.2 Therefore, the total value of the above mentioned
securities held by the deceased for which Succession Certificate has been applied for is Rs. 1,81,712.08/-
Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 6/9(Rupees One Lakh Eighty One Thousand Seven Hundred Twelve and Eight Paise Only).
8.3 As far as prayer of the petitioner for issuance of Succession Certificate in respect of Locker No. 59 maintained with Allahabad Bank having branch at Khasra No. 368, near bus stand, Village Khaira, Najafgarh, Delhi- 110043, is concerned, the said relief is not granted to the petitioner as the issuance of succession certificate in this respect is not contemplated under the provisions of Indian Succession Act.
8.4 At this juncture, it is relevant to mention the case of Madhvi Amma Bhawani Amma & Ors. v. Kunjikutty Pillai Meenakshi, AIR 2000 SC 2301, 2000 (3) ALT 35 SC, 2001 (49) BLJR 813, wherein, it was held as under:
" The enquiry in proceedings for grant of succession certificate is to be summary, and the Court, without determining questions of law or fact, which seem to it to be too intricate and difficult for determination, should grant the certificate to the person who appears to have prima facie the best title thereto. In such cases the Court has not to determine definitely and finally as to who has the best right to the estate. All that it is required to do is to hold a summary enquiry into the right to the certificate, with a view, on the one hand, to facilitate the collection of debts due to the deceased and prevent their being time-barred, owing (for instance) to dispute between the heirs inter se as to their preferential right to succession, and, on the other hand, to afford protection to the debtors by appointing a representative of the deceased and authorising him to give a valid discharge for the debt. The grant of a certificate to a person does not give him an absolute right to the debt nor does it bar a regular suit for adjustment of the claims of the heirs inter se".Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 7/9
8.5 From the oral and documentary evidence on record, prima facie it can be said that the deceased was the resident of H.No. RZ-43, Nanda Enclave, Najafgarh, New Delhi- 110043 which is reflected in the death certificate, Ex. PW- 1/2. The matter thus, falls within the jurisdiction of this Court. The deceased namely, Late Smt. Murti Devi Jain who expired on 04.08.2018 was survived by two class-1 legal heirs i.e. petitioner and respondent no. 2 who are stated to be the sons of the deceased. The husband of the deceased died on 14.12.2010.
8.6 The claim of the petitioner by way of the present petition under Section 372 of the Act has gone unrebutted. Neither the respondents nor anyone on behalf of the public contested the claim of the petitioner. There is also no impediment under section 370 of the Act to grant Succession Certificate with respect to debts and securities as mentioned in the petition. Furthermore, the deposition of PW-1 and RW-1 and the documents relied upon by the said witness stands unrebutted/ uncontroverted/ unchallanged. This Court does not find any reason to disbelieve the unrebutted testimony of PW-1 and RW-1 recorded on Oath in the Court.
9. Relief:
9.1 In view of the foregoing reasons, this Court holds that petitioner namely Sh. Sumeet Kumar Kharb and respondent no. 2 namely Sh. Vivek Kharb, are equally Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 8/9 (half share each) entitled to grant of Succession Certificate under section 373 of the Act in respect of aforementioned securities pertaining to the deceased i.e. amount to the tune of Rs. 90,856.04/- (Rupees Ninety Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty Six and Four Paise only) each out of the total amount of Rs. 1,81,712.08/- (Rupees One Lakh Eighty One Thousand Seven Hundred Twelve and Eight Paise Only) lying in the savings bank accounts maintained with State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank and also amount payable under LIC Policy. Petitioner and respondent no. 2 are also entitled to interest/ dividend/ bonus/consequential benefits, if any, accrued thereupon.
(Details of the accounts are mentioned in the table of para no. 8.1) 9.2 Succession Certificate be issued to the petitioner and respondent no. 2 separately in respect of their half share each on filing of separate corresponding court fees in terms of Article 12 Schedule I of Court Fees Act, 1870 as applicable in Delhi and Indemnity-cum-surety bond of the like amount, within 30 days from today.
9.3 Petition is accordingly, disposed of.
Digitally
signed by
ANURADHA
ANURADHA JINDAL
JINDAL Date:
2024.03.27
14:38:50
+0530
Pronounced in the (Anuradha Jindal)
open Court on 27.03.2024 ACJ-CCJ-ARC,
South West District,
Dwarka Courts, New Delhi
Succ Court 86/2020 Sumeet Kumar Kharb v. State & Anr. Page 9/9