TARU JETHMAL LALVANI Vs. D M TORGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is one of the executors of the Will of Lata Dr. Mengharam Rochiram Lalvani and a probate has been granted to the petitoner on 15-9-1976 by this Court in petition No. 262 of 1974. On 23-10-1954 the 4th respondent was registered as a society under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The principal object of the 4th respondent as appearing from its constitution is as follows :

(2.) The said deceased died on 11-10-1973 and till his death was residing in flat No. 34, 5th floor "Sagar Darshan", Bhulabhai Desai Road, Bombay 400 026 (hereinafter referred to as "the said flat"). The building in which the said flat was situated was and is owned by a Co-operative Housing Society. Under his Will dated 9-2-1971 the deceased directed his executors and trustee to dispose of the said flat and the shares held by the deceased in the Co-operative society and out of the corpus or income of the property to give such amounts to the poor in charity as the executors may in their discretion deem fit. Sometime in the year 1974 the petitioner alone applied for the probate of the Will with the consent of the other executors which probate was ultimately issued on 15-9-1976. For want of probate the petitioner was obviously not in a position to dispose of the said flat. Though petitioner has stated in paragraph 10 of the petition that the said flat was being used for residence even prior to the passing of the said order and was not vacant for a period of six months prior to the making of the said order, it is not possible to ascertain on the basis of the record available whether any person was actually residing in the said flat. The prima facie impression created is that the flat was not actually used for actual residence though all the items and paraphernalia required for residing therein were existing in the said flat.

(3.) I ascertained from Mr. Talyarkhan, though it is not in any affidavit that one K.T. Satarawala a retired I.A.S. Officer, who retired sometime in June 1975 and acted as Chief Adviser to the Government of Gujarat till then, was appointed as a chief executive of the 4th respondent by a resolution of the 4th respondent dated 17-5-1976 and the letter of appointment dated 18-5-1976 was issued in his favour. His post was given a nomenclature of Secretary General but he was only an employee of the 4th respondent. The association has the All India Council consisting of various officers bearers who are honorary members and one of the office bearer is Honorary General Secretary. It would appear that soon after the said Satarawala acquired this exalted position, the Government started considering the question of requisitioning of the said flat under the Bombay Land Requisition Act, 1948 and instituted inquiry.