No mandate for a legal heir to apply for heirship certificate

The Bombay High Court while allowing a miscellaneous petition sought revocation legal heirship certificate granted under Section 2 of the Bombay Regulation VIII of 1827.

Justice SC Gupte heard the petition filed by Kusum Chandrakant Shankardas a retired Army Officer who died intestate (without making a will) in August 2013.

Chandrakant Shankardas was married to Rajeshri, the petitioner' sister. They had two daughters together, but in 1982 they started living separately. It was the case of petitioners that there was a customary divorce between the deceased and Respondent No 1 in 1983.

Further, on May 25, 1984, the deceased married the petitioner as per the Hindu rite and customs. In the present case, the couple had two daughters, one was born in 1986 and the other was born in 1993.

Chandrakant died in 2013 and before his death, they were living in a tenement that was maintained by Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Ever since the death of Chandrakant, the petitioner started receiving Rs.14,000 from the developer which continued until March 2016.

Later, in March 2016, it came to the knowledge of the petitioner that the first wife of the deceased and her two daughters has obtained a legal heirship certificate by filing a miscellaneous application in 2015.

Hence, the petitioners filed for revocation of heirship certificate. The court while passing this judgment observed that the first wife of the deceased has not stated the fact of desertion or about the customary divorce. Therefore, before granting the heirship certificate the court dispensed off with the mandatory requirement of proclamation.