New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of a Will executed by a Karnataka-based chartered accountant in favour of his sister, ruling that mere exclusion of natural heirs from inheritance cannot by itself be treated as a suspicious circumstance to invalidate a testament.

A Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Vijay Bishnoi dismissed an appeal filed by the wife and children of the late B. Sheena Nairi, who had challenged concurrent findings of the trial court, the first appellate court and the Karnataka High Court upholding the Will executed in favour of the testator’s sister.

The dispute pertained to properties owned by the deceased, including agricultural lands in Udupi district, Karnataka, which were bequeathed to his sister, Laxmi Nairthy, under a Will dated May 15, 1983, excluding his wife and children.

The wife and children of the testator had alleged that the Will was forged and fabricated, and contended that the exclusion of the legal heirs itself created suspicious circumstances around its execution.

Rejecting the contention, the Supreme Court said that “mere exclusion of the natural heirs from the property of the testator, by itself, cannot be construed as a suspicious circumstance so as to invalidate a Will outrightly.”

“It is well-established that mere deprivation of natural heirs, by itself, may not amount to a suspicious circumstance because the whole idea behind the execution of a Will is to interfere with the normal line of succession,” the Justice Bhuyan-led Bench observed.

The judgment noted that the Will itself clarified that the testator had already given “enough and more” to his wife and children residing in Bombay, and therefore no injustice had been caused to them.

Referring to settled legal principles governing proof of Wills, the apex court said that the testimony of one attesting witness is sufficient to establish due execution if it satisfies the requirements under the Indian Succession Act and the Evidence Act.

It added that one of the attesting witnesses, B. Jagannatha Nairi, had categorically deposed that the testator signed the Will in his presence and that both of them had signed it in the presence of each other. The Justice Bhuyan-led Bench also rejected the argument that the delay in producing the Will cast doubt on its genuineness, stating that the beneficiary had moved a representation before the Tehsildar in 1984 itself seeking mutation based on the Will.

On the question of mutation entries, the Supreme Court reiterated that mutation in revenue records does not confer title and is carried out only for fiscal purposes. The top court further said that non-registration of a Will does not affect its validity, observing that there is no legal requirement mandating registration of testamentary documents.

“There is nothing in law which requires the registration of a Will and Wills are in a majority of cases not registered at all,” it observed.

Dealing with the appellants’ objection regarding non-compliance with Order XLI Rule 31 of the Civil Procedure Code by the first appellate court, the Justice Bhuyan-led Bench held that mere technical defects in framing points for determination would not vitiate a judgment if there was substantial compliance and proper appreciation of evidence.

It also refused to rely upon affidavits allegedly filed by attesting witnesses denying execution of the Will, holding that affidavits are not evidence unless tested through cross-examination in accordance with the law. “An affidavit is not an ‘evidence’ within the meaning of the Evidence Act… and cannot be relied upon unless the deponent is subjected to cross-examination,” the judgment said.

Affirming the concurrent findings of all the courts below, the apex court said that the Will was executed voluntarily and in a sound state of mind and that no grounds were made out to interfere with the judgments upholding its validity.

“For the aforesaid reasons, we affirm the Impugned Judgment, and hence, the present appeal is dismissed,” concluded the Justice Bhuyan-led Bench.

–IANS

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