The Supreme Court set aside an Allahabad High Court ruling that had invalidated a registered Will due to questions over adoption, stating such a Will ought not be discarded unless shrouded by strong suspicious circumstances.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, led by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, set-aside a ruling by the Allahabad High Court that had declared a registered Will invalid solely because the beneficiary’s adoption was deemed void.
The Supreme Court remanded the case for a fresh examination of both the adoption’s validity and the Will’s legality.
The dispute originated during consolidation proceedings under the Uttar Pradesh Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1953.
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The High Court faced two main questions: whether Sunil Kumar was validly adopted by the deceased Chandrabhan, and whether Chandrabhan had executed a valid registered Will in favor of Sunil Kumar, who was the predecessor-in-interest of the appellants, Sushma and others.
The High Court concluded that if the adoption was invalid, Sunil Kumar could not benefit from the Will.
It stated,
“The Will in dispute was executed by Chandrabhan in favour of his adopted son Sunil Kumar. Once it is found that adoption deed of Sunil Kumar was void and Sunil Kumar is not the adopted son of Chandrabhan, the validity of Will cannot be assumed.”
The Supreme Court found this reasoning legally flawed, noting,
“For validation of the Will, it was not obligatory to prove that Sunil Kumar was validly adopted or that a Will could not be executed in his favour unless he was found to have been adopted. Such an issue could arise only when Sunil Kumar would have claimed intestate succession.”
The Court emphasized the established principle,
“Ordinarily, a registered Will, unless shrouded by strong suspicious circumstance, ought not be discarded.”
Consequently, the Court set aside the Allahabad High Court’s judgment from December 20, 2022, and instructed a re-evaluation of the two questions: the validity of Sunil Kumar’s adoption and whether the Will had any illegality if the adoption was not proven.
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The bench clarified that it had not made any determinations regarding the merits and directed the High Court to resolve the matter independently, based on the record and free from prior findings.
The Court also ordered that the interim status quo remain in place until the High Court reaches a final decision, disposing of all pending applications.