Legal Reference Library

In Rampali vs State Govt. of NCT of Delhi, the Delhi High Court has held that in cases where someone dies without a will, succession can only be granted to the legal heirs of that person, not the nominee. Justice Valmiki Mehta was hearing an appeal against an order by the trial court dated January 18, 2017, wherein the application for revocation of succession certificate filed by the appellant was rejected. The succession certificate was granted to Sonia Yadav and Bhim Singh, daughter and husband of deceased Kamla Devi, who passed away on April 25 last year. The appellant, Rampali, is the deceased’s sister. She sought revocation of the succession certificate on two grounds. One, the father and daughter had not been residing with the deceased for 35 years and secondly, in government records, Rampali was Kamala Devi’s nominee. The trial court dismissed this application on the ground that Sonia Yadav and Bhim Singh were the legal heirs of Kamla Devi under Section 15 (1)(a) of ...

The bench of Dipak Misra and R. Banumathi, JJ held that the brother of a married female tenant is neither a ‘heir’ as visualized under Section 3(a) nor ‘family’ within the meaning of Section 3(g) of the U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972. In the present case, the suit property was taken on rent by the father-in-law of deceased tenant and after his death, his son became tenant of the suit property. Upon his death, his wife i.e. the appellant’s sister became the tenant of the suit property. The Court noticed that the word ‘heir’ is not defined in the Act and hence, it has to be given the same meaning as would be applicable to the general law of succession. Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act lays down the general order of succession to the property of a female intestate who dies after the commencement of the Hindu Succession Act and the exception carved out in Section 15(2)(b) provides for a special order of succession in case of property inher...

Supreme Court: While construing the provisions of Hindu Law Women’s Rights Act, 1933, the Court held that the succession to a Hindu male dying intestate will vest only in the widow under Section 4(1)(ii) to the exclusion of the daughters.  In the present case, two brother and the wife of elder brother constituted a joint Hindu family. The elder brother was the Karta of the said family. Both the brothers had partition and divided their joint family properties. The younger brother died intestate, leaving behind his widow and three daughters. Later, the widow executed a will bequeathing her share in the joint family property in favour of only one of the three daughters. One of the daughters filed a suit claiming her 1/4th share in the property as per Section 10(2)(g) of the 1933 Act. Shri S.N. Bhat, learned counsel of the respondent, also invited the attention of the Court to Section 8(1)(d) of the Act and according to him since joint family property passed to younger brother who wa...