Delhi High Court: A Bench comprising of Valmiki J. Mehta, J. dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant for revocation of the succession certificate granted to the legal heirs in a case filed by the sister of the deceased.
The appellant was the real sister of the deceased and she challenged the succession certificate granted to the daughter and the husband of the deceased, on the ground that they remained separated from the deceased before 35 years prior to her death, and the appellant is the nominee in the government records.
The Court took recourse to Section 15(1)(a) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and affirmed the conclusion of the lower court that the respondents being the daughter and husband of the deceased, are her legal heirs, and they are entitled to the succession certificate. The Court followed the Supreme Court judgment in Sarbati Devi v. Usha Devi, (1984) 1 SCC 424 and stated that nomination is not a will in law, thus rejecting the plea of the appellant that there is a nomination in her favour in the government records. The High Court dismissed the appeal by holding that in the absence of any will of the deceased in favour of the appellant, only those persons who are the legal heirs of the deceased under the Hindu Succession Act, can inherit her properties. [Rampali v. State Govt. of NCT of Delhi , 2017 SCC OnLine Del 7999, decided on 24-04-2017]
