Madras High Court
Bazeer Koya vs The Tahsildar on 27 October, 2022
1
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED 27.10.2022
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE V.BHAVANI SUBBAROYAN
W.P(MD)No.23526 of 2022
and
W.M.P(MD)No.17604 of 2022
Bazeer Koya ..Petitioner
Vs
The Tahsildar,
Kalkulam Taluk,
Kanyakumari District. ..Respondent
Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
praying this Court to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for
the records relating to the impugned order passed by the respondent in
the Petitioner's Application No. TN-720220811321, dated Nil and to
quash the same as illegal and consequently to direct the respondent to
issue Class-II legal heirship certificate of the Petitioner's brother late
Mohammed Ismail, son of Bazeer Mohamed.
For Petitioner :Mr.R.J.Karthick
For Respondent :Mr.D,Gandhiraj
Special Govt.Pleader
ORDER
The Petitioner has filed this Writ Petition seeking issuance of a Writ
of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records relating to the
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impugned order passed by the respondent in the Petitioner's Application
No. TN-720220811321, dated Nil and to quash the same as illegal and
consequently to direct the respondent to issue Class-II legal heirship
certificate of the Petitioner's brother late Mohammed Ismail, son of Bazeer
Mohamed.
2.Heard the learned counsel appearing on either side and perused
the materials placed before this Court.
3.The case of the Petitioner is that the Petitioner is residing at the
petition mentioned address and the Petitioner himself, his sisters Kathija,
Mohammed Meera Ummal,Mohideen Beevi and his brother late.
Mohammed Ismail are the legal heirs of his parents.The Petitioner's
brother Mohammed Ismail died on 9.4.2015 and his wife Suraya Beevi
also died on 10.7.2009 and they have no children and they died
intestate.The Petitioner and his sisters abovementioned are the living legal
heirs of his deceased brother Mohammed Ismail. During his lifetime, the
Petitioner's brother purchased the petition mentioned properties and after
demise of his hrother, the Petitioner and his sisters tried to partition the
said properties among themselves. Hence the Petitioner submitted an
application on 11.8.2022 seeking legal heirship certifiate and the same
was rejected by the respondent stating that Class-II legal heirship
certificate could not be issued. This Court in umpteen number of
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judgments held that even class-II legal heir is entitled to legal heirship
certificate and guidelines were also issued by the Government in this
regard. Since the Petitioner's request for Class-II legal heir certificate was
rejected, the Petitioner has come forward with the present Writ Petition.
4.As per the orders of the Full Bench of this Court in W.P.Nos.
25247 of 2021 and batch of cases(P.Venkatachalam and
others .vs. The Tahsildar, Kumarapalayam Taluk and others),
dated 17.6.2022,in Page No.112, Paragraph 65(f) and (6) it has been
held as follows:
''F.The classification of persons as Class-I and Class-II heirs
in Circular No.9 of 2019, dated 24.09.2019 and their application to
the heirs of a deceased female Hindu or non hindu would lead to
chaos. We find the entire edifice of the classifiation in the Circular is
founded on a fallacy that the concept of Class-I and Class-II legal
heirs which are applicable to the heirs of the deceased Hindu male
under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act could be extended
across the Board to all religions.
6.Consequently, the Government of Tamil Nadu is directed to
issue fresh Government Order in lieu of Circular No.9 of 2019
without the anomalies pointed out, supra, in particular, the usage of
expressions'' Class-I and Class-II'' legal heirs under the Hindu
Succession Act, 1956. The Government will also consider
incorporating a father, blood brother/sister as eligible applicants for
umarried deceased, as also the administrative remedies of appeal
and revision found in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the existing Circular
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No.9 of 2019.This exercise shall be completed within a period of six
weeks from today.''
5.The Government has issued Government Order in G.O.(Ms)No.
478, Revenue and Disaster Management, Revenue Administration Wing,
RA-3(2) Section, dated 29.09.2022, in this regard. As per the above
Government Order,the legal heirship certifiate of the deceased, in case of
married persons, will include, father, mother, spouse, sons and daughters
of the deceased and in case of issuance of legal heirship certificate in
respect of unmarried persons, the legal heirs are the father, mother,
brother and sister of the deceased person. The applicant should also
produce the death certificate of the deceased and other documents such
as Aadhaar Card, Voter ID Card, Passport, Bank Passbook/Postal Savings
Book, Driving license, Pension Payment Order and any other similar
document. It is also further stated that against the order of Tahsildar, an
appeal petition can be filed to the respective Revenue Divisional Officer
within a period of one year from the date of issuance/rejection of the
application, as the case may be. Further, there is a gray area in the
Government Order regarding legal heirs and it talks only about the
classification of legal heirs and there is no clear-cut classification of the
persons, who are the sisters and brothers of the deceased married or
umarried persons and that has to be decided by the authorities.
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6.The authorities concerned shall seek for clarification from the
Government regarding the guidelines and procedures in this regard and
based on the said clarification, the respondent is directed to consider the
application already submitted by the Petitioner and pass appropriate
orders based on the guidelines and further clarifications received from
the Government and also in accordance with law. The Petitioner is also
directed to produce the relevant Mohammedan law/guidelines in this
regard for issuance of Class-II legal heirship certificate, to the respondent
to enable him to do the same, as directed above, within a period of twelve
weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
7.With the above directions,the Writ Petition stands disposed of. No
costs. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petition is closed.
27.10.2022
Index : Yes/No
Internet:Yes/No
vsn
To
The Tahsildar,
Kalkulam Taluk,
Kanyakumari District.
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V.BHAVANI SUBBAROYAN,J
vsn
ORDER MADE IN
W.P(MD)No.23526 of 2022
27.10.2022
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