KANWARJIT SINGH DHILLON Vs. HARDYAL SINGH DHILLON

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal under Clause X of the Letters Patent is directed against an order of a learned single Judge whereby he allowed the petition filed by Hardyal Singh Dhillon-respondent under Section 276 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (for short, 'the Act') for the grant of a probate. Facts necessary for the disposal of the appeal may first be noticed.

(2.) KIRPAL Singh Dhillon retired as Assistant Director of Industries, Punjab and he died on October 31, 1979 at the age of about 67 years. At the time of death he owned the following properties:i ). House No. 148, Sector 27-A at Chandigarh;

(3.) IN response to the notice issued, Kanwarjit Singh Dhillon-appellant opposed the petition. In his written statement he denied that Kirpal Singh Dhillon ever signed or executed the Will dated July 22, 1978. It was pleaded that the Will propounded by Hardyal Singh Dhillon-respondent was a forged document and altogether unnatural. According to the appellant it was not stated in the Will where it had been executed and the witnesses who purported to have attested the Will were neither related to the testator nor were the residents of the locality where the testator resided. It was further pleaded by the appellant that Hardyal Singh Dhillon remained posted in connection with his service at various stations outside Chandigarh and, therefore, he could not serve his late father and on the contrary the appellant who remained posted at Rajpura lived with the father and served the testator. It was also alleged that the property left by the deceased was ancestral.