BHAGWANDAS YADAV Vs. ROHIT TIWARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE revision under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 has been filed by the unsuccessful applicant whose application for grant of succession certification under Section 372 of Indian Succession Act, 1925 (in short 'the Act') has been rejected by the Trial Court on the ground that his marriage with the deceased Basanti Tiwari which was solemnized on 15.11.1981 was disbelieved by the Trial Court vide order dated 27.2.2006, passed in Succession Case No. 30/2005, and appeal against the said order was also dismissed by the impugned order dated 23.1.2008 passed by VI Additional District Judge, Sagar in Civil Appeal No. 4/2007.

(2.) THE applicant - Bhagwandas Yadav filed an application under Section 372 of the Act for grant of succession certificate against the non -applicants in respect of shares, fixed deposits of UTI, State Bank of India, LIC policies, GPF, gratuity, leave encashment, GIS, Kisan Vikas Patra, Fixed Deposits and Post Office deposits etc. amounting to Rs. 38,69,452/ - and jewelleries lying in the bank locker amounting to Rs. 1,41,276/ - on the ground that his marriage with the deceased was solemnized on 15.11.1981 in presence of her real sister Shanti Bai, Jawalal Mukhariya and 2 -3 friends of the applicant and her relatives at Jabalpur, as per Hindu customs. He further pleaded that in the year 1959, he came in the service of Central Excise Department and his first posting was made at Sagar. After his first posting, he joined at Sagar and had taken the house of the father of the deceased on rent which was situated at Rampura Ward at Sagar and that time he had intimacy with the deceased which later on turned into friendship with her. In 1961 he was transferred to Jabalpur where he was posted till 1964 and during those period, she met him at Jabalpur and then they have started liking to each other. In 1964 the petitioner was again transferred to Sagar. She after her graduation applied for UDT and in the year 1965 she was appointed as UDT and posted at Begumganj of District Raisen and thereafter she did B.Ed. course from Jabalpur on 6.7.1968 and thereafter she was posted at Damon and then to Hatah. In between the applicant and deceased kept meeting with each other and also visited South India. In the said visit, deceased also accompanied him. Her father died on 30.4.1974. After the death of her father, with the consent of her family members, her marriage was solemnized with the applicant and since then the applicant and deceased had started living as husband and wife in one house. On 11.4.2005 she died due to vehicular accident. At that time, the applicant was residing with her in House No. 113, Poddar Colony, Shivaji Ward, Sagar. On these facts, the applicant prayed for grant of succession certificate to receive the dividends, interest, securities, FDR, retrial benefits and mutate his name and withdraw the amount from the bank and collect all the movable estate of the deceased.

(3.) IN support of the said fact, he examined himself as AW -1, Mohd. Majid alias Majju (AW -2), Rakesh Kumar Tiwari (AW -3), Moh. Uvesh Khan (AW -4), Jawaharlal Mukharya (AW -5) and sister of the deceased Shanti Bai (AW -6). AW -1 to AW -6 in their statement very categorically stated that the applicant is husband of the deceased -Basant Tiwari and their marriage was performed in the year 1981 on 15.11.1981. On 20.2.2006, non -applicant No. 1 Rohit Tiwari was examined. Non -applicant No. 2 Shanti Tiwari was examined as AW -6 on 10.2.2006. The applicant in support of her marriage with Basanti Tiwari filed photographs vide Ex.A -2 to A -4, share certificates, LIC policies, post office pass book, certificates etc etc vide Annexure A -5 to A -101. No documentary evidence was produced by the applicant regarding his marriage with Basanti Tiwari. The applicant and deceased were Government servants but they never disclosed the factum of marriage in their Government records nor the deceased after her marriage filed any application for change of her surname nor she during her life time nominated the name of the applicant as her legal nominee to receive the retiral benefits and other amounts. The deceased after her marriage was in Government service for quite number of years but she never disclosed about her marriage in the Government record nor she applied for change in her service record. Similar is the position of the applicant.