A. DRAVIASUNDARAM PILLAI Vs. N. SUBRAMANIA PILLAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Court is here concerned with the interpretation of the will of one Kanakasabapathi Pillai who died on the 13th August, 1940. The testator had married twice, but no children were born to him and both his wives predeceased him. He appointed as his executors the plaintiff and the defendant. The ' plaintiff is a brother of the testator's second wife. The defendant is a son of the testator's brother and is the heir at law.

(2.) IN 1934 the testator contemplated retiring from the world and of becoming, to use the expression found in his will, a Tathra Sanyasi. It is apparent from the will that despite his religious inclinations he was a man of considerable vanity and he was anxious to erect a monument to himself, which would " serve to place him before the eyes of the public even more prominently than any dharmam performed when he was alive." We are here quoting from the judgment under appeal. The main question involved in it is whether the will, which was executed on the 29th April, 1934, constitutes a dedication of the residue of the estate for public charitable purposes.

(3.) IT is common ground that the testator did not become a sanyasi and that he continued living as before until he was murdered on the 13th August, 1940. He was cremated in the usual manner and the arrangements for the cremation were admittedly carried out by the defendant. Even if he had become a sanyasi the cremation prevented him from being buried as such and this has been stressed in the Courts below. Moreover, a person who is not a sanyasi cannot be buried in a samadhi.