Delhi High Court
Smt. Bharati Sharma vs The State & Ors. on 9 December, 2019
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Judgment delivered on: December 09, 2019
+ TEST.CAS. 84/2018
SMT. BHARATI SHARMA
..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Jagdeep Singh Bakshi,
Mr.Abhishek Mohan and Mr. Amitesh
Singh Bakshi, Advs.
versus
THE STATE & ORS.
..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Anya Singh, Adv. for R-1 / State.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO
JUDGMENT
V. KAMESWAR RAO, J
1. This is a petition filed by the petitioner under Section 276
of India Succession Act, with the following prayers:-
"It is therefore, most respectfully prayed that this
Hon'ble Court may most graciously be pleased to:
a) Grant in favour of the Petitioner, Letters of
Administration, with the WILL dated 30.12.2013
annexed thereto, in respect of the estate of the
deceased, namely Smt. Susheela Ambike;
a) Pass any other order in favour of the Petitioner
as is deemed fit and proper by this Hon'ble Court."
2. In substance, the petitioner is seeking Letters of
Administration, with the WILL dated December 30, 2013 in
respect of the estate of the deceased, namely Smt. Susheela
Ambike.
3. It is the case of the petitioner that deceased Susheela
Ambike was a Hindu. Her husband Late Lt. Col. Bhalchandra
Narayan Ambike had died during her life time on April 08, 1993.
That the only child of Susheela Ambike, a son, namely Ambike
Mukund Bhalchandra had died a bachelor on November 16, 1978
in an air crash. It is the case of the petitioner that the said
deceased Susheela Ambike left behind (i) Mrs. Vijaya Mulay-
respondent No.2, who is her sister; (ii) Mrs. Suhasini Mulay-
respondent No.3 (niece); (iii) Dr. Shree Mulay-respondent No.4
(niece) and (iv) Bharati Sharma (niece)- petitioner in the present
petition. The petitioner certifies that to the best of her
knowledge, the deceased did not leave behind any other legal heir
except as stated above (Exh.PW3/C).
4. It is the case of the petitioner that Susheela Ambike, the
deceased during her life time executed her last Will dated
December 30, 2013. The said Will was duly registered with the
office of Sub-Registrar V, New Delhi as Document No. 1458 in
Book No. 3, Vol. No 2,034 on pages 118 to 120 on December 31,
2013. The said Will in original is also filed along with the
petition (PW 1/1).
5. It is her case that the said registered Will dated December
30, 2013 was validly executed by Susheela Ambike when she
was of sound disposing mind. It was executed voluntarily without
any force, fraud or undue influence of any type whatsoever. The
execution of the said Will dated December 30, 2013 was duly
attested by the attesting witnesses namely Shri K. Gopala
Krishnan, S/o Late Shri K.A.G. Menon, R/o 1st Floor, T Park
Avenue, Maharani Bagh, New Delhi - 110065 and Ms. Preeti
Johri, W/o Shri Chandra Kumar Johri, R/o 58, First Floor, Block
I, Charmwood Village, Suraj Kund Haryana-121009. The
testatrix and the said two witnesses all signed at the same time.
6. It is the case of the petitioner that the deceased Susheela
Ambike left behind the following movable and immovable
properties (Ex.PW3/F):
i) House No 48/7 in Ex- Servicemen's Colony Paud Road Pune
38 Maharashtra;
ii) Flat No. 12-B, K Block, Saket, New Delhi -110017;
iii) Bank Account No. 7123 in Bank of India, Saket Branch, New
Delhi -110017 with a credit balance of `16,93,430.46;
iv) Bank Account No. 11PC Canara Bank Indraprastha College
Extension, Delhi with a credit balance of `5,56,543.33;
v) Bank Account No. 342, Bank of Maharashtra Paud Road,
Pune 38 with a credit balance of `39,693.49 ( Petitioner / parties
do not seek the assistance of the Court in respect of this account).
vi) Deposit in NSS Account No. 2502 New Delhi Post Office,
Gol Dak Khana, New Delhi with a credit balance of `11,42,982/-.
vii) Investments in mutual funds and shares and any other
financial instruments in the custody of Deepak Sethi, R/o H-17C
Saket, New Delhi-110017 and Ms. Rekha Hodarkar, R/o T-9,
Seeta Apartments, Mayur Colony, Kothrud Pune-411038. Value
of the above mutual funds / shares in respect of which assistance
of the Court is required are `3,00,000/- approximately.
viii) Jewellery, furniture, gadgets and household gadgets.
7. It is the case of the petitioner that as per the Will dated
December 30, 2013, Susheela Ambike, deceased has
bequeathed:-
i) the Flat No 12-B, K Block Saket, New Delhi -110017 in favour
of the petitioner exclusively, absolutely and forever;
ii) House No 48/7 in Ex- Servicemen's Colony Paud Road Pune-
38, Maharashtra in favour of respondent No.3. This property
already stands transferred in favour of respondent No.3 as per the
Will of the testator;
iii) Credit Balance in NSS Account No. 2502, New Delhi Post
Office, Gol Dak Khana, New Delhi in favour of respondent No 4,
the amount has been withdrawn and handed over to respondent
No.4 as per the WILL;
iv) Credit balances in Bank Account No. 7123 in Bank of India,
Saket Branch, New Delhi -110017, credit balance of
`16,93,430.46/-; Bank Account No. 11PC Canara Bank,
Indraprastha College Extension, Delhi, credit balance of
`5,56,543.33/-; Bank Account No. 342, Bank of Maharashtra
Paud Road, Pune-38 credit balance of ` 39,693.49/-; equally in
favour of the petitioner, respondent No. 3 and respondent No. 4;
v) Investments in mutual funds and shares and any other
financial instruments equally in favour of the petitioner,
respondent No. 3 and respondent No. 4, presently valued at
`3,00,000/- approximately;
vi) Jewellery, furniture, gadgets and household gadgets equally
in favour of petitioner, respondent No. 3and respondent No. 4.
No value. It is stated that the petitioner, respondent Nos.3 and 4
have also distributed amongst themselves the Jewellery, furniture,
gadgets and household gadgets. The assistance of the Court is
not required in respect of the said property.
8. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner is one of
the beneficiaries of the estate of the deceased. The sisters of the
petitioner, respondent Nos. 3 and 4 are also beneficiaries of the
estate of the deceased and they have been arrayed as respondent
Nos. 3 and 4 in the present petition.
9. The deceased had appointed Dr. Savitri Sawhney, W/o
Brig. V.K. Sawhney, R/o A 1/20 Freedom Fighter's Enclave, Neb
Sarai, New Delhi-110068 as the executor of the Will in question
and had also left her original Will with her. The petitioner made a
request to the said Dr. Savitri Sawhney to execute the Will in
question vide a letter dated October 12, 2018. The said Dr.Savitri
Sawhney vide her letter dated October 16, 2018 (Ex.PW 2/1)
showed her inability to execute the Will and handed over the
original Will to the petitioner.
10. It is the case of the petitioner that as the named Executor
has shown her inability to act, the petitioner being the beneficiary
of the Will has presented the present petition for grant of Letters
of Administration with the Will annexed thereto.
11. In the present petition, notice was issued to the State on
December 12, 2018 and citations had been published in the
newspaper 'The Statesman' (English) Delhi Edition and 'Dainik
Bhaskar' (Hindi) Delhi edition. Since the properties are also
situated in Maharashtra, citations were also published in 'Free
Press Journal' (English) Maharashtra Edition and 'Navbharat'
Maharashtra Edition and 'Mumbai Lakshadweep' (Marathi)
Maharashtra edition. Objections have not been received despite
publication of the citation. Notice was duly served on the State
and Valuation report has been filed by the SDM (Hauz Khas)
with respondent to Delhi property. Affidavits of 'No Objections'
dated December 27, 2018 have been filed by other surviving legal
heirs i.e. Vijaya Mulay-respondent No.2 (since deceased),
Ms.Suhasini Mulay - respondent No.3 and Dr. Shree Mulay-
respondent No.4 to the effect that they do not have any objection
if the relief as prayed for, is granted in favour of the petitioner.
12. The petitioner also entered the witness box and tendered
the affidavit (Ex.PW3/X) along with documents exhibited as
Ex.PW3/A to Ex.PW3/G.
(i) Ex.PW3/A - Death certificate of Susheela Ambike;
(ii) Ex.PW3/B - Death certificate of Bhalchandra Narayan
Ambike;
(iii) Ex.PW3/C - List of legal heirs;
(iv) Ex.PW3/D - Death certificate of Vijay Mulay;
(v) Ex.PW3/E - Amended memo of parties;
(vi) Ex.PW3/F - Estate left behind by the deceased;
(vii) Ex.PW3/G - Affidavit of the petitioner dated December
01, 2018.
13. It is noted Dheeraj Kumar, Record Keeper from the office
of Sub-Registrar-V Mehrauli had also appeared as PW4. He
proved the registration of the Will dated December 30, 2013
which is exhibited as Ex.PW1/1. Ms. Preeti Johri, one of the
attesting witness on the Will also appeared as PW1, who tendered
her affidavit Ex.PW1/X. She stated that the executants signed the
Will at the time of signing the Will. Thereafter she had put her
signatures. Thereafter another witness namely K. Gopala
Krishnan signed the Will. Later on, the executant, she and K.
Gopala Krishnan had put their thumb impression before the
Registrar. She also stated, she verified the petition, which is duly
supported by her affidavit Ex.PW1/2. I note, Dr. Savitri
Sawhney (executor) appeared as PW2, and tendered her affidavit
as Ex.PW2/X along with document exhibited as PW2/1, which is
a letter dated October 16, 2018 whereby she has handed over the
original of the Will to the petitioner and stated that because of her
ill health, she is unable to carry the work of the Will.
14. In view of the above, it is clear that the respondent No.2
(since deceased) the respondent Nos.3 and 4, have filed their no
objections for grant of Letters of Administration in favour of the
petitioner to give effect to the wish and desire of Late Susheela
Ambike as mentioned in her last Will dated December 30, 2013
(Ex.PW1/1). That apart, the Will dated December 30, 2013, as
registered with the office of Sub-Registrar-V, Mehrauli on
December 31, 2013, has been proved by the attesting witness
namely Ms. Preeti Johri (PW-1) and by the record keeper namely
Sh. Dheeraj Kumar (PW-4). It is also proved that the executor,
PW 2 Dr. Savitri Sawhney has vide Ex.PW2/1 has renounced her
executorship, which made the petitioners file this petition for
grant of Letters of Administration with Will.
15. So, in view of the fact that there is no opposition, the
validity of Will dated December 30, 2013 Ex. PW-1/1 has been
proved. The testator was in sound disposing mind at the time of
executing the Will. The Court is satisfied that the Will dated 30 th
December, 2013 (Ex.PW1/1) is the true and last Will of Late
Susheela Ambike. There is no impediment for grant of Letters of
Administration with Will annexed. During the course of hearing,
it was the submission of Mr. Bakshi that with regard to property
being Flat No.12-B, K Block, Saket, New Delhi-110017, the
petitioner being the beneficiary, she be exempted from filing the
administration bond with surety. In fact, he had relied upon the
judgment of the Coordinate Bench of this Court in the case of
Rita Narang & Anr. v. The State & Ors., Test Case No.11/2011
decided on August 07, 2015 and so also in the case of Neeraj
Chandra & Anr. v. State & Ors., TEST. CAS. 81/2010, decided
on March 10, 2017.
16. The petition is allowed and the Letters of Administration
with Will dated 30th December, 2013, (Ex. PW 1/1) annexed
thereto, in respect of the estate of Late Susheela Ambike is
granted in favour of the petitioner subject to the petitioner
furnishing the requisite Administration Bond / Surety Bond / and
paying the Court fee. The petitioner being the beneficiary with
regard to the Flat No.12-B, K Block, Saket, New Delhi-110017,
she is exempted from furnishing the requisite Administration
Bond / Surety Bond, but shall furnish a Personal Bond in that
regard.
17. The petition is disposed of.
V. KAMESWAR RAO, J
DECEMBER 09, 2019/ak
