G VELAYUDHAN THAMPI Vs. K K MOHANAN THAMPI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) An order refusing to refer a document for opinion of handwriting expert is under challenge in this original petition.

(2.) The suit is one for partition. The claim for partition is defended by the defendants relying on a Will dated 03.04.2007. At the request of the plaintiff the Will was forwarded to an expert for comparison of the signature of the executant therein, with settlement deed No.987 dated 09.04.2003. The genuineness of the settlement deed is not in dispute. The expert filed a report on 29.07.2016, which is apparently against the defendants. Thereupon, the defendants filed an application as I.A.No.247 of 2018 to send the Will to the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Trivandrum for comparison of the signature of the testator with that in six other documents produced by the defendants. The application was dismissed by the court below.

(3.) It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the documents with reference to which the defendants sought for expert opinion were produced by them before the court even prior to the order of reference to the expert and still no comparison was made with reference to the said document. Noticeably petitioners did not make a request to the court for having comparison made with the said documents said to have been produced by them earlier before the court. The settlement deed which was forwarded for comparison, as noticed, is an undisputed document. When the opinion of the expert stares upon the defendants, they have come up with the present application.