G BHARATHI Vs. G PRAMEELA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SINCE these two proceedings arise out of a common judgment passed in a suit and a petition for probate of a Will, they are being disposed of by a common judgment.

(2.) FOR the sake of convenience, I will refer to the parties as they are arrayed in O. S. No. 4 of 2001, out of which A. S. No. 15 of 2007 arises.

(3.) PLAINTIFFS filed the aforesaid suit seeking a declaration that they alone are entitled to the death-cum-retirement benefits of g. Sreenivasulu (the deceased) and also the amounts detailed in the plaint schedule, and for a decree of permanent injunction restraining defendants 1 to 3 from recovering the death-cum-retirement benefits of the deceased, inter alia alleging that the deceased married the first plaintiff about 27 years prior to the suit as per sastric rites and begot plaintiffs 2 and 3 out of the wedlock, but subsequently, it came to light that the deceased married the first defendant and gave birth to defendants 2 and 3 and had deserted the first defendant about 28 years back, after giving customary divorce to her as per the caste custom and married the first plaintiff and lived with her till his death on 02. 12. 1999. The deceased, who was working as a driver in the fourth defendant devasthanam, nominated the plaintiffs as the persons entitled to the death-cum-retirement benefits in his Service Register. As the deceased had on 15. 02. 1999 executed a Will in a sound disposing state of mind bequeathing the death-cum-retirement benefits to the plaintiffs, they informed the executive Officer of the fourth defendant devasthanam to release the death-cum-retirement benefits of the deceased to them, whereupon, he directed the plaintiffs to obtain a succession certificate to enable him to take further action. They filed the suit because the defendants are making efforts to recover the death-cum-retirement benefits of the deceased.