The Allahabad High Court overturned a subsection, deeming the registration of agricultural land wills in Uttar Pradesh unnecessary despite the state’s attempt to mandate it in 2004.
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Uttar Pradesh: Recently, The Allahabad High Court has invalidated a subsection within the Act, asserting that the registration of wills concerning agricultural land is not a prerequisite in the state. This judgment stems from the Uttar Pradesh government’s endeavor to mandate the registration of such wills on August 23, 2004.
The division bench, composed of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar, held that Subsection 3 of Section 169 of the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950, would be void to the extent that it provides for the registration of ‘Wills’. The court emphasized that even if a will is not registered, it will still be considered valid. The division bench delivered this judgment on May 10 while addressing a ‘reference’ sent to them by the high court chief justice in response to a petition filed by Pramila Tiwari.
The high court found that Subsection 3 of Section 169 of the aforementioned Act, which mandated the compulsory registration of a ‘Will’, contradicted the central legislation—the Indian Registration Act, 1908—which only makes the registration of wills optional. Consequently, the court ruled that the disputed part of the subsection should be deemed void and struck down.
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In a previous case, known as the Shobhnath case, the high court declared the registration of a will to be necessary. However, in the Jahan Singh case, it stated that the will becomes effective after the testator’s death and should therefore be registered at the time of presentation.
To resolve the conflicting views, the chief justice referred the matter to the division bench of the high court, articulating the issue as follows:
“Is it mandatory to register a written ‘Will’ made before August 23, 2004, if the testator passes away after that date?”
During the court proceedings, the judges examined the question of whether the state legislature could have made the registration of a ‘Will’ compulsory by incorporating such a provision in the law without the assent of the President. They considered that wills, intestacy, and succession are subjects falling under the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India, and the central legislation already addresses the issue of will registration.
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This judgment by the Allahabad High Court has far-reaching implications for the registration of wills of agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh. With the court ruling that the registration of wills is not mandatory, individuals who have written wills prior to August 23, 2004, can take solace in the fact that their wills remain valid even if they were not registered.
