Published on:18 July 2023 at 13:30 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Savithri V. Karthyayani Amma (2007)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that a Will is executed to alter the mode of succession and by the very nature of things it is bound to result in either reducing or depriving the share of a natural heir. It is held that a propounder of the will has to remove all suspicious circumstances which are doubt, conjecture or mistrust. However, it is held that the fact that natural heirs have either been excluded or a lesser share has been given to them, by itself without anything more, cannot be held to be a suspicious circumstance, especially in a case where the bequest has been made in favour of an offspring.
22. Deprivation of a due share to the natural heirs itself is not a factor which would lead to the conclusion that there exist suspicious circumstances. For the said purpose, as noticed hereinbefore, the background facts should also be taken into consideration. The son was not meeting his father. He had not been attending to him. He was not even meeting the expenses for his treatment from 1959, when he lost his job till his death in 1978. The testator was living with his sister and her children. If in that situation, if he executed a will in their favour, no exception thereto can be taken. Even then, something was left for the appellant.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
