A flight of wooden stairs was decorated by red furry
carpet at the outside of Morz-O-Rin. A decorated fascinating wooden door was
like threshold of heaven. There was brown beautiful carving available on the
black wooden door. A man in a well dressed uniform opened the heavy door and to
help the old man to step into the restaurant. One hand of this old man remained
tightly hold on by Mr. Apurba Kedia and other hand by the door keeper of Morz-O-Rin
.The old man’s twinkle eyes were framed by thick white eyebrows, stubble chin
was covered with white whiskers. Aging lines were prominent on his forehead. Due
to age, baby like steps of that man was supported by the walking cane, firmly held
by his gnarling hands.
Mr. Apurba, took that old & weak man in the dining table, while
he was having food, dropped food particles on his entire dress. Mr. Apurba was
calm but this scenario took the bloom off other diners who were observing them.
When he finished food, Mr. Apurba who was calmly and quietly like
a parent took him to the wash room, wiped the food particles, removed stains, and
combed his hairs. Mr. senior Kedia behaved like a child. They came out from the
wash room when they realized that the entire restaurant was observing them
without batting an eye… Mr. Apurba asked for the bill and paid the bill amount along
with Rs. 50/- for tip and moved on…..
At that time, an old man amongst the diners excused & asked …..Mr.
Apurba!! “Don’t you think that you are
leaving something behind?”.
Mr. Apurba said, “No sir……”.
Then the Mr. Senior Kedia replied to the dinner turned out and
retorted with shaky lips, “Yes… You are! ….yes, he has left a good teaching/
lesson for all child and light at end of tunnel for old, deprived
family members”. Father & son look into each other’s side
filled with immense respect. Mr. Apurba really left a good lesson for the other
oblivious diners.
Here, Mr.
Apurba, is not natural son of his old father. His adoptive father has three
natural sons and a daughter and he doesn’t get enough care and attention from
them. The old man wants to bequeath his 80% property to Mr. Apurba (an adopted
son) and 20% property for the philanthropic work. A Will has already been made
by Mr. Apurba’s Father but he wants to keep his Will safe from worst situation.
Therefore Mr. Apurba’s father wants to get registered his Will.
Testator
(Apurba’s father) has executed and registered his Will on 25th
September,2006, where he bequeaths his properties in favor of his adopted son
Mr. Apurba (Respondent), and also he has given life interest to his wife and
only daughter. No property has been bequeathed to three natural sons (Appellants)
on the ground that they are staying apart and they show no interest on the
family members. The Testator/ Mr. senior Kedia expires on 23rd May, 2010.
After death of the Testator, Mr. Apurba is in exclusive possession of the
property. The Appellants have been filed a suit where they claim the Will dated
25-09-06 is not genuine and the same has been revoked by another Will dated on
25th February,2010 and another Will dated 28th March,2010
is executed and registered by the Testator/ Mr. senior Kedia. Appellants claim
his right on the basis of Will dated on 25th February,2010 .The
stand of the respondents is that the Will dated
25th February,2010 and 28th March,2010 both are
fabricated as at the relevant time the Testator was bed-ridden and did not have
capacity to execute any wills and he died within few days and the date of his
death was on 23rd May,2010. The trial court dismissed the suit of
the respondent upholding the contention of the appellant. However, the
appellate court allowed the appeal and decreed the suit of the Respondent (Mr. Apurba)
thereby holding that the existence of the Will dated on 25th
September,2006 has been admitted by both the parties ( by the Appellants &
Respondent ) and the case of the Appellants are that the same has been revoked
but the subsequent Will dated on 25th February,2010 was an
unregistered Will and both the subsequent Wills were not proved and are
surrounded by suspicious circumstances. The H.C upheld the findings of the appellate
court holding that the Wills dated on 25th February, 2010 & 28th
March, 2010 have not been proved as per requirement of Sections 68 and 69 of Indian Evidence Act. Ultimately, the final
judgment goes in favor of Mr. Apurba.
Attestors/
witnesses of the Wills dated on 25th February, 2010 & 28th
March, 2010, were strangers to the family and these Wills surfaced only when
the appellants (three natural sons) gave his written statement in the year of 2016
in the suit filed by the respondent (Mr. Apurba). The stand of the Respondent
(Mr. Apurba) is that the testator (the old man) went to a temple to attend a
function from where the appellants (three natural sons) had taken him to Cuddalore
(name of a place) and as and when the Respondent (Mr. Apurba) came to know, he
brought the testator back to his house at Vellupuram (name of a place) where
the Testator (adaptive father of Mr. Apurba) was staying all these years and
ultimately died. The S.C also affirmed the final judgment of the High Court
which goes in favor of Mr. Apurba (Respondent). The witnesses of such suit also
vouch for the honesty of Mr. Apurba.
Finally,
Mr. Apurba got justice but does it happen with everyone?? Is it really so easy
to prove? Our children can also do the same thing what the three sons of such
Testator deed. What is the remedy then?.....
We all
know maxim- “Falsus in uno falsus in omnibus” (false in one thing, false in
everything) is not applicable in India.
Falsity
of particular material witness/ material particular would not ruin it from the
beginning to the end. It is the duty of the Court to separate the grain from
the chaff and the witnesses cannot be branded as liars. The above mentioned
maxim is merely a rule of caution. It is only when it is not feasible to
separate truth from falsehood due to grain and chaff being inextricably mixed
up and in the process of separation an absolutely new case has to be
reconstructed by divorcing essential details presented by the prosecution, the
only available cause is to discard the evidence in toto.
So, the
question is that how can you give complete protection your Will? If the
adaptive father of Mr. Apurba kept his original Will in a safe place, his sons won’t
get any scope to fabricate the truth. They have played with the truth and want
to get share from such property by depriving Mr. Apurba. What will happen then
with the last wish of that old man (adaptive father of Mr.
Apurba)!!!!.............
Please
take all the proper information before making your Will…DiL SE WiLL is the
pioneer in the field of Estate & Succession planning and it has buckled
down seriously to give protection to your legacy. If you need to protect
legacy, please make contact to us……
Thanking
You.
DiL SE WiLL is wishing you a long and
healthy life.
We
celebrate your success in life.
Let’s add
the awesomeness in our lives.
Author: Shreya
Nandi (Legal- executive officer of DiL SE WiLL)
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