MEERA AJIT DOSHI Vs. CHANDA ACHYUT VAZE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Plaintiff seeks probate of the last will and testament of her deceased mother, late Sumati Vasant Joglekar, as an executrix of the will.

(2.) It is the Plaintiff's case that the deceased had made a last will and testament dated 11 August, 2003. The deceased died in Mumbai on or about 31 October, 2009, leaving her surviving as her heirs and next-of-kin according to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 only her three daughters, including the Plaintiff, the Defendant and their younger sister, Madhushri Dhiren Khot. The Plaintiff is an executrix of the will, the other executrix being the Defendant. The Plaintiff filed the testamentary petition for probate of the will on 14 June, 2012. Citations were issued on 7 August, 2012. The Defendant filed a caveat. The petition was thereupon converted into a suit. In her affidavit in support of the caveat, the Defendant has contested the genuineness, legality and validity of the will. It is the Defendant's case that the purported will is contrary to the known wish and desire expressed by the deceased during her lifetime and is the result of undue influence, coercion and undue pressure on the deceased at the hands of the Plaintiff and the younger sister Madhushri.

(3.) The following issues were framed at the trial of the suit :