MST. ROHILA KURMI Vs. TEMSU KURMI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal by Mst. Rohila Kurmi who applied for letters of administration of the will of Mst. Somari Kurmi dated 27th January, 1955. She claimed to be the sole legatee under the will, and, as such, applied for the letters of administration with the copy of the will annexed. It was alleged that the testatrix died on 13th November, 1956 and that the will in question was the last will and testament executed by her.

(2.) THE learned Additional District Judge, who heard the case, formulated the following issues, namely, (1) as to whether the will dated 27th January, 1955 was a genuine and valid will; (2) whether Mst. Somari Kurmi had a sound and disposing mind at the time of making the will; and, (3) whether the applicant -plaintiff was entitled to the grant of letters of administration as prayed for. The learned Judge came to a halfhearted finding on issue No. 1 and did not say definitely whether he held the will to be genuine or a fabricated one. On the other hand, he was inclined to hold that the will was not properly executed or attested, and, as such, he considered that there was no valid will in the eye of law and that the plaintiff was not entitled to the gram of letters of administration. In regard to the second issue, he found that he could not say with any amount of emphasis that Mst. Somari had not a disposing mind at the time of making the will.

(3.) BEFORE coming to the contentions raised on the question of uncertainty or ambiguity in the will, I would like to discuss first as to whether the provisions of Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act were fully complied with. The provisions of this section require that: