[Cites 10, Cited by 0]
Madras High Court
E.T. Kirubanandam S/O. Late ... vs Mercy Jayakantham And 3 Othersw/O. ... on 8 January, 2026
OP No. 170 of 2025
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 08-01-2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE P. DHANABAL
OP No. 170 of 2025
E.T. Kirubanandam S/o. Late R.Evanandam,
No.16/19, Thandavamoorthy Street, Seven Wells,
Chennai 600 001.
..Petitioner(s)
Vs
1. Mercy Jayakantham and 3 othersW/o. J.Jayaraj,
D/o. Late R.Evanandam, C/o. Kalaivani (Home
Nurse), No.5/513, 126th Street, Muthamizh
Nagar, Chennai 600 118.
2. Fredric Devanandam S/o. Late R.Evanandam,
C/o. Kalaiselvi Selvaran (Home Nurse),
No.917, I-Block, 8th Street, R.R.Nagar,
Kodungaiyur, Chennai 600 118.
3. Sylvester Karunanandam,
S/o. Late R.Evanandam, Plot No.24/6, Binny
Nagar Main Road, MMC Post, Madhavaram,
Chennai 600 051.
4. Priscilla Thiruthuvarani
W/o. P.Arumainayagam, D/o. Late
R.Evanandam, C/o. Dr.Samuel, Plot No.24/6,
Binny Nagar Main Road, MMC Post,
Madhavaram, Chennai 600 051.
..Respondent(s)
PRAYER: The Original Petition has been filed under Section 232, 255 and 276
of Indian Succession Act read with Order XXV Rule 5 of Original Side Rules
praying that Letters of Administration with the Will annexed may be granted to
him as the son/beneficiary named under the Will of the deceased to have effect
limited to the State of Tamil Nadu.
For Petitioner(s): M/s. D.Danial Ambrose
For Respondent(s): No appearance
__________Page 1 of 8
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OP No. 170 of 2025
ORDER
This petition has been filed under Section 232, 255 and 276 of the Indian
Succession Act to grant Letters of Administration to the petitioner to the estates
and credits of the deceased having effect limited to the State of Tamil Nadu.
2. After filing of this petition, this Court directed the petitioner to effect
paper publication in any one of the issues of Tamil Daily and also in English
daily and the paper publication was also effected and there is no any objection
from any party. Thereafter, the case was posted for recording evidence and the
evidence was also recorded. On the side of the petitioner, PW1 and PW2 were
examined and Ex.P.1 to Ex.P10 were marked.
3. According to the petitioner, he and the respondents are the sons and
daughters of one Mr. R. Evanandam. The said Mr. R. Evanandam was the
legal heir of one Mr. Ratnam and the schedule described property belonged to
said Mr. Rathnam. The said Mr. Ratnam died intestate leaving behind his sons
and daughers namely i) R. Evanandam, ii) R. Sadhanandam,
iii) R. Arputhanandam, iv) R. Matilda Chandra and v) Esther Kapalapushanam.
After the demise of said Mr. Ratnam, the said property was inherited by the
above said Class-I legal heirs of Mr. Ratnam. The brothers and sisters of
R. Evanandam had released their respective 1/5 share in the property in favour
of R. Evanandam vide two separate release deeds dated 29.12.1949 and
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18.05.1950. Thus, the deceased Mr. R. Evanandam became the sole and
absolute owner of the schedule property. The wife of said R. Evanandam
predeceased him and Mr. R. Evanandam died on 07.11.1993 leaving behind him
i) Mercy Jayakantham - daughter (1st respondent), Fredric Devanandam - Son
(2nd respondent), E.T. Kirubanandam - Son (petitioner), Sylvester
Karunanandam - son (3rd respondent) and Priscilla Thiruthuvarani - daughter
(4th respondent). The deceased R. Evanandam, during his life time, executed a
Will on 14.02.1987, whereby, he had bequeathed the schedule mentioned
property in favour of the petitioner and he allotted his other self acquired
property at Thirunindravoor in favour of the other daughters and sons. The
deceased R. Evanandam has not appointed any executor in the Will. The
parents of the deceased R. Evanandam, predeceased him. The petitioner is the
only beneficiary named in the Will in respect of the schedule mentioned
property.
4. The amount of assets which are likely to come into the hands of the
petitioner is approximately Rs.25,00,000/-. Except the petitioner and the
respondents, there is no other next of kin to the deceased. As one of the
attesting witnesses reported dead, one Mrs. A. Shamini, wife of Mr. Edwin
Joseph Davis Machael has been examined as PW2 and she has filed an affidavit
identifying the signatures of the deceased R. Evanandam and the signature of
Mr. G.P. Arputharaj, one of the attesting witnesses.
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5. PW1 and PW2 were examined and Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.10 were marked.
PW1 has reiterated the petition averments and further stated that the deceased
executed a Will dated 14.02.1987 in the presence of the attesting witnesses.
6. The Will dated 14.02.1987 is more than 35 years old Will, which was
executed by the deceased Mr. R. Evanandam in the presence of two attesting
witnesses. The original Will has been marked as Ex.P.2 by PW1. Since the Will
is a 35 years old document and it has been produced from proper custody, a
presumption under Section 90 of Indian Evidence Act is available. At this
juncture, it is relevant to rely upon a judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in
Marathal (died) and another vs. Kanniammal (died) and others reported in
2024 SCC Online Mad 5153 wherein it has been held that "....insofar as the
"Will" is concerned, if attesting witnesses are available, then they should be
examined in terms of Section 68 of Evidence Act, if the witness is not available,
then route under Sections 69 to 71 is available to the profounder, if the 'Will' is
more than 30 years old and produced from proper custody, Section 90 is
available to the Court to draw a presumption regarding its "due execution"and
"attestation" and if the 'Will' is more than 30 years old and produced from
proper custody, it is shown that the attesting witnesses are alive and not
produced before the Court, it may resort to presumption under Section 114
illustration (g) instead of one under Section 90 of Evidence Act".
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7. In this case, one Mrs. A. Shamini, who is acquainted with the signature
of one of the attestors namely Mr. G.P. Arputharaj, has been examined as PW2.
She has deposed that the deceased Mr. R. Evanandam is her grandfather and she
has seen the Will executed by him and she is well acquainted with the signature
of her grandfather / Testator Mr. R. Evanandam, that the first attesting witness
to the said Will is her father Mr. G.P. Arputharaj and her father died on
27.06.2010 and the second attesting witness Dr. V. Gladstone Vijayakumar is
her father's elder sister's only son, that she is also well acquainted with the
signature of the said second attesting witness and the said Dr. V. Gladstone
Vijayakumar also passed away. A perusal of evidences of PW1 and PW2 and
Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.10 revealed that the petitioner and the respondents are the legal
heirs of the deceased and no any objection has been raised by any other party to
grant letter of administration to the petitioner. Therefore, the petitioner, through
the evidences and documents, has amply proved the execution of Will.
Therefore, the petitioner is entitled to the relief as prayed for in the petition.
8. Therefore, this Original Petition is allowed and Letter of
Administration, to the estates and credits of the deceased Mr. R. Evanandam in
favour of the petitioner, is granted.
9. Issue Letters of Administration in favour of the petitioner. The
petitioner is directed to duly administer the properties and credits of the
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deceased more fully described in the schedule. The petitioner is also directed to
execute a security bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five
Thousand only) in favour of the Assistant Registrar (O.S.II), High Court,
Madras. The petitioner is further directed to render true and correct accounts
once in a year.
08-01-2026
Index: Yes/No
Speaking/Non-speaking order
Neutral Citation: Yes/No
MJS
APPENDIX:
List of Petitioner side Witnesses:
PW1 : Mr. E.T. Kirubanandam
PW2 : Mrs. A. Shamini
List of Petitioner side Documents:
Exhibit No. Date Description of Documents.
Ex.P.1. 29.12.1949 Photocopy of the Release Deed executed by Mr. R.
Arputhanandam and two others in favour of Mr. R.
Evanandam
Ex.P.2 14.02.1987 Original Will and Testament executed by Mr. R.
Evanandam.
Ex.P.3 - Original Death Certificate of Mr. R. Evanandam.
Ex.P.4. Affidavit of assets showing the net value of estate as
Rs.25,00,000/-
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Ex.P.5 17.08.2025 Copy of the paper publication effected in one issue of
Tamil daily "Makkal Kural".
Ex.P.6 24.08.2025 Copy of the paper publication effected in one issue of
English daily "Trinity Mirror".
Ex.P.7 - Death Certificate of Mr. G.P. Arputharaj.
Ex.P.8. - Legal Heirship Certificate of Mrs. Sheila Arputharaj.
Ex.P.9 - Affidavit under Section 63 of B.S.A for computer
generateddocuments.
Ex.P.10 - Photocopy of PW2's Aadhar Card.
08.01.2026
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P.DHANABAL, J.
MJS
08-01-2026
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