Published on: 27 September 2023 at 23:30 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Meena Pradhan V. Kamla Pradhan (2023)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that second marriage and bigamy are not a relevant factor in deciding the validity of the Will. It is held that broadly a Civil Court must ascertain while deciding the validity of the Will are
- Testator signed the Will out of his own free Will,
- At the time of execution he had a sound state of mind,
- Testator was aware of the nature and effect thereof and
- The Will was not executed under any suspicious circumstances.
12. Coming to the facts of the case, a careful perusal of the relevant material on record and applying the provisions and the case laws it is evident that the Will was duly executed by the testator in the presence of witnesses out of his free Will in a sound disposing state of mind and the same stands proven through the testimony of one of the attesting witnesses, namely, Suraj Bahadur Limboo who was examined as PW-2 by the Civil Court. This witness categorically states that the testator executed the Will in question and, both he and the testator signed the Will in the presence of each other.
13. As far as allegations made by the defendants are concerned, we are of the opinion that there is no evidence on record to conclude that the deceased was not in a fit or stable mental condition at the time of execution of a Will, or that a Will was executed under suspicious circumstances, or the presence of any element of undue influence.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra