TMI Blog2007 (10) TMI 675X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hile holding that the suit was not maintainable, in view of the probate granted of the Will of late S.Kirpal Singh had relied on a decision of this Court, as noted herein earlier, in the case of Rukmani Devi (supra). We are not in a position to agree with the High Court that this decision could at all be applicable in the facts and circumstances of the present case. A plain reading of this decision would not show that after the grant of probate by a competent court, the suit for title and permanent injunction cannot be said to be maintainable in law. What this Court held in that decision is that once a probate is granted by a competent court, it would become conclusive of the validity of the Will itself, but, that cannot be decisive whether the probate court would also decide the title of the testator in the suit properties which, in our view, can only be decided by the civil court on evidence. It is true that the probate of the Will granted by the competent probate court would be admitted into evidence that may be taken into consideration by the civil court while deciding the suit for title but grant of probate cannot be decisive for declaration of title and injunction whether at ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... #8377; 20,000/- and ₹ 10,000/- respectively [hereinafter referred to as the suit properties ]. According to the appellant, the suit properties left behind by late S.Kirpal Singh were their ancestral properties. After eight years of the death of late S.Kirpal Singh, the respondent No.1 propounded an unregistered Will left behind by late S.Kirpal Singh and applied for probate thereof in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. As per the said Will executed by late S.Kirpal Singh, the suit properties, both movable and immovable, were bequeathed by late S.Kirpal Singh in favour of respondent No.1 herein. Only a right of residence was given in favour of the widow of late S.Kirpal Singh and his unmarried daughter. In the aforesaid probate proceeding, objections were, however, filed by the appellant alleging that the said Will was a forged and fabricated one. However, the probate was granted to the respondent No.1 by the High Court and thereafter, the matter came up before this Court which also affirmed the order of the High Court granting probate in respect of the Will executed by late S.Kirpal Singh. Subsequent to the grant of probate of the Will of late S.Kirpal Singh in respect of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... plaint. The plaint clearly states that the civil suit was for a declaration to the effect that the suit properties were joint Hindu family properties of the HUF of which the appellant and his two brothers Hardyal Singh Dhillon and Harbans Singh Dhillon, mother Surjit Kaur and unmarried daughter Amarjit Kaur were the members. Consequential relief for permanent injunction was also sought restraining the respondent No.1 from alienating the suit properties, in any manner, whatsoever. Besides claiming that the suit properties were the joint family properties, it was also averred in the plaint that late S.Kirpal Singh was the Karta of the aforesaid HUF and by utilizing the income from their ancestral agricultural land had acquired various properties including the suit properties. 10. The High Court by the impugned order, relying on a decision of this Court in the case of Smt. Rukmani Devi and Ors. v. Narendra Lal Gupta, [1985] 1 SCC 144 affirmed the order of the civil court by holding that a probate granted by a competent probate court was conclusive of the validity of the Will of late S.Kirpal Singh until it was revoked and no evidence could be admitted to impeach the said Will except i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing the above views and following the earlier decisions of this Court as well as of other High Courts in India observed in paragraph 15 at page 515 which runs as under :- In Ishwardeo Narain Singh v. Smt. Kamta Devi this Court held that the court of probate is only concerned with the question as to whether the document put forward as the last will and testament of a deceased person was duly executed and attested in accordance with law and whether at the time of such execution the testator had sound disposing mind. The question whether a particular bequest is good or bad is not within the purview of the probate court. Therefore, the only issue in a probate proceeding relates to the genuineness and due execution of the will and the court itself is under duty to determine it and perverse the original will in its custody. The Succession Act is a self-contained code insofar as the question of making an application for probate, grant or refusal of probate or an appeal carried against the decision of the probate court. This is clearly manifested in the fascicule of the provisions of the Act. The probate proceedings shall be conducted by the probate court in the manner prescribed in the Ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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