High Court · 2025

O.P. No.738 of 2024IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRASDATED : 27.10.2025CORAM : THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.DHANABALO.P. No.738 of 20241. S. Sulochana2. R. Ananthi3. Sakthivel Munusamy4. Velu Munusamy5. Kumari Venkatesh6. Anandh Siva7. Sumathi8. K. Parameshwari9. Jagatheswari Sekar10. Vijayakumar11. V. S. Sasikumar12. V.S. Rajan13. G. Ramani... PetitionersVs1. M. Kasthuri2. T.P. Adikesavan3. A. Srinivasan… Respondents PRAYER: Original Petition is filed under Section 232 and 276 of the Indian Succession Act of 1925 read with Order XXV Rule 5 of the Original Side Page No.1 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024Rules praying to grant letters of Administration to the Will annexed with the petition, to the 2 to 13 petitioners as great grand children / legatees of the deceased Kannammal having effect through out the State of Tamil Nadu.For Petitioner:Mr.M. VijayanandFor Respondent :R1:Notice served. No appearance.R2 & R3:No appearance.ORDER This petition has been filed under Section 232 and 276 of the Indian Succession Act to grant Letters of Administration to the petitioners 2 to 13 to the estates and credits of the deceased having effect through out the State of Tamil Nadu.2. After filing of this petition, this Court directed the petitioner to effect paper publication in any one of the issue of Tamil Daily and also in English daily and the paper publication was also effected and there is no any objection from any party. Thereafter, the case was posted for recording Page No.2 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024evidence and the evidence was also recorded. On the side of the petitioners, PW1 and PW2 were examined and Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.17 were marked. 3. According to the petitioners, a property comprised in Paimash No.1041, Block No.28, T.S. No.91, Old Door No.15 part, Palaniandavar Koil Street, Ayanavaram, Chennai admeasuring to an extent of 1998+1665 sq. ft. was originally belonged to one Kannammal, having acquired title to the same and she had developed the said property from and out of her own acquisitions. The said Kannammal and her husband Murugappa Naicker had two sons namely Mr M. Punyakoti and Mr. Arumugam. The said Kannammal died on 16.10.1977. Her son M. Punyakoti predeceased her on 24.03.1967, leaving behind his wife Ranganayaki and three daughters namely Gnanammal, Indira and Sulochana. The said Sulochana is the 1st petitioner herein and the above said Ms. Ranganayaki died on 26.08.1971. The deceased Kannammal had executed a Will on 22.10.1972 bequeathing the schedule mentioned property to and in favour of her grand daughters Gnanammal, Indira and Sulochana for Page No.3 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024life with rights to receive rents and profits and absolutely to the children / legal heirs of the above said grand daughters, the petitioners 2 to 13 herein. Further the deceased Kannammal had executed a Settlement deed dated 23.10.1972 settling 1998 sq. ft. of land to and in favour of her younger son Arumugam. 3.1. The deceased Kannammal executed the registered Will dated 22.10.1972 in a sound and disposing state of mind in the presence of the witnesses namely Mr. Aadimoolam and A. Soosainathan. At present, their whereabouts are not known to the petitioners. Therefore, the petitioners have filed a third party affidavit of one Mrs. S. Vasanthakumari, who was present with the testatrix at the time of execution of Will dated 22.10.1972. As per the Will dated 22.10.1972, no any executor was appointed by the testatrix. Among the three granddaughters of the deceased Kannammal, Ms. M. Gnanammal died on 27.09.1996 leaving behind her children R. Ananthi, Sakthivel Munusamy, Velu Munusamy and Kumari Venkatesh, the petitioners Page No.4 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 20242 to 5 herein as her legal heirs. Further Ms. S. Indira died on 26.02.2022 leaving behind her children Anandh Siva, Sumathi and K. Parameshwari, the petitioners 6 to 8 herein as her legal heirs. The husband of the 1st petitioner namely Sekar died leaving behind him, his wife / 1st petitioner herein, his children, petitioners 9 to 13 herein. 3.2. The younger son of the deceased Kannammal, namely Arumugam expired on 12.05.1980 leaving behind his wife A. Rani and his daughters Neelavathi, Kasthuri and A. Rajeswari as his legal heirs. Among them, Ms. A. Rajeswari expired unmarried on 15.12.1995 and Ms. Neelavathi expired on 03.03.2016, leaving behind her husband T.P. Adhikesavan, the 2nd respondent herein and A. Srinivasan, the 3rd respondent herein. Ms. Kasthuri is the 1st respondent. The respondents 2 and 3 have filed their consent affidavits to grant letters of administration to the petitioners. The amount of assets which are likely to come into the petitioners' hand does not exceed aggregate sum of Rs.50,00,000/-. The deceased Kannammal executed the Page No.5 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024said Will dated 22.10.1972 in favour of her grand daughters for life with rights to receive rents and proftis and absolutely in favour of the children / legal heirs of the grand daughters i.e., petitioners 2 to 13. Therefore, the petitioners prayed to grant letters of administration in favour of the petitioners 2 to 13.4. The 1st petitioner herein, was examined as PW1. A perusal of evidence of PW1 and Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.17 revealed that the petitioners and the respondents are the legal heirs of the deceased and no any objection has been raised either by any of the respondents or any other party to grant letter of administration to the petitioners. 5. A registered Will dated 22.10.1972 was executed by the deceased Kannammal in the presence of two attesting witnesses. The whereabouts of two attesting witnesses are not known. The said Will is a more than 50 years old document. The original Will has been marked as Ex.P.1 by PW1. Since Page No.6 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024the Will is more than 50 years old document and it has been produced from proper custody, a presumption under Section 90 of Indian Evidence Act is available. At this juncture, it is relevant to rely upon a judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Marathal (died) and another vs. Kanniammal (died) and others reported in 2024 SCC Online Mad 5153 where it has been held that "....insofar as the "Will" is concerned, if attesting witnesses are available, then they should be examined in terms of Section 68 of Evidence Act, if the witness is not available, then route under Sections 69 to 71 is available to the profounder, if the 'Will' is more than 30 years old and produced from proper custody, Section 90 is available to the Court to draw a presumption regarding its "due execution"and "attestation" and if the 'Will' is more than 30 years old and produced from proper custody, it is shown that the attesting witnesses are alive and not produced before the Court, it may resort to presumption under Section 114 illustration (g) instead of one under Section 90 of Evidence Act". In the case on hand, the deceased Ms. Kannammal, had executed the Will on 22.10.1972, i.e., before 50 years and the Will has been attested by two Page No.7 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024attestors namely Mr. Aadimoolam and A. Soosainathan and now, their whereabouts are not known to the petitioners. Therefore, one Mrs. S. Vasanthakumari has been examined as PW2. She has identified the Will and the signatures of the testatrix and both the attestors and she has also filed an affidavit to that effect. The respondents 2 and 3 have also filed their consent affidavits to grant letters of administration to the petitioners. The 1st respondent has not appeared before the Court. Therefore, the petitioners, through the evidences and documents, have amply proved the execution of Will. Therefore, the petitioners 2 to 13 are entitled to the relief as prayed for in the petition.6. Accordingly, this Original Petition is allowed and Letter of Administration, to the estates and credits of the deceased Ms. Kannammal in favour of the petitioners 2 to 13, is granted. 7. Issue Letters of Administration in favour of the petitioners 2 to 13. The petitioners are directed to duly administer the properties and credits of the deceased more fully described in the schedule. The petitioners 2 to 13 are Page No.8 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024directed to execute a security bond each for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only) in favour of the Assistant Registrar (O.S.II), High Court, Madras. The petitioners are further directed to render true and correct accounts once in a year.27.10.2025Index:Yes/No Speaking Order:Yes/NomjsAPPENDIX:List of Petitioner side Witnesses:PW1:Ms. S. SulochanaPW2:Ms. S. VasanthakumariList of Petitioner side Documents:Exhibit No.DateDescription of Documents.Ex.P.1.22.10.1972Original Will of the Testator Kannammal.Ex.P.223.10.2017Certified copy of the partition deed entered into amongst the respondents.Ex.P.319.07.2022Computer generated copy of the Death Certificate of Kannammal.Page No.9 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024Ex.P.4.19.07.2022Computer generated copy of the Death Certificate of M. Punyakoti.Ex.P.519.07.2022Computer generated copy of the Death Certificate of Ranganayaki.Ex.P.6.22.04.2022Computer generated copy of the Death Certificate of S. Indira.Ex.P.7.20.11.2022Computer generated copy of the Legal Heir Certificate of S. Indira.Ex.P.8.21.05.2009Photocopy of the Death Certificate of M. Gnanammal.Ex.P.9.25.09.2015Photocopy of the Legal Heir Certificate of M. Gnanammal.Ex.P.1001.01.1940 to 31.12.1974Original Encumbrance Certificate.Ex.P.11-Photocopy of the Aadhar Card of S.Sulochana.Ex.P.12-Affidavit of assets showing the net value of the estate at Rs.50,00,000/-Ex.P.1313.05.2025One issue of paper publication in Tamil daily "Malai Murasu".Ex.P.1421.05.2025One issue of paper publication in English Daily "Southern Mail" dated 21.05.2025.Ex.P.15-Certificate under Section 63 of B.S.A. filed for Exs.P3 to P7.Ex.P.16-Affidavit of PW2.Ex.P.17-Photocopy of Aadhar Card of PW2.Page No.10 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 202427.10.2025P.DHANABAL.,JmjsPage No.11 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis O.P. No.738 of 2024 O.P. No.738 of 202427.10.2025Page No.12 of 12