Kanchan Arjun Khaturia And 2 Ors. vs Arjun Lokuram… — Succession and Inheritance | Bombay HC (2025)

Kanchan Arjun Khaturia And 2 Ors. vs Arjun Lokuram… — Succession and Inheritance | Bombay HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Letters of Administration granted to the petitioners for the properties left by the deceased and shown in the schedule, in prescribed format, as per the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925; petitioners exempted from surety and administration bonds; petitioners to file an account as undertaken in the Petitioner's Oath.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioners - the widow, son and daughter of the deceased - are entitled to seek Letters of Administration for the deceased's properties under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. +1 more

Court's answer

The petition is allowed and Letters of Administration are granted to the petitioners for the properties left by the deceased and shown in the schedule, in prescribed format, as per the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Ratio / Principle

Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the petitioner No. 1 being the widow, No. 2 the son and No. 3 the daughter of the deceased are entitled to seek Letters of Administration; the facts stated by the petitioners on oath remained unchallenged and were required to be accepted.

Key takeaways

As no one appeared to resist the claim of the petitioners and nothing was brought to notice regarding pending litigation pertaining to the same properties, the petition was treated as uncontested.ratio¶10
In view of the order passed in TP No. 2918/2023, all legal heirs of the deceased being petitioners, they are exempted from furnishing the surety bond.ratio¶11
The administration bond is exempted as all the petitioners are legal heirs of the deceased.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (Testamentary Department), 79.TP/5723/2024, decided 30th April 2025 by Shri P. A. Jagdale, Officer on Special Duty. Uncontested petition under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 by Kanchan Arjun Khaturia (widow), Rishiraj Arjun Khaturia (son) and Shivraj Arjun Khaturia (daughter) for Letters of Administration to the properties left by Arjun Lokuram Khaturia, who died at Mumbai on 04-06-2023. Citation was affixed on the High Court and Collector's Office notice boards and 14 days expired under Rule 397(1) and (4), with notice to the Collector under Rule 396, of the Bombay High Court (O.S.) Rules, 1980; no objection, caveat or pending litigation was reported, so the petition was treated as uncontested. Acting on the order in TP No. 2918/2023 and the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the court held that the petitioners, being all the legal heirs, were entitled to the grant and exempted them from the surety bond and the administration bond. Petition allowed: Letters of Administration granted for the Schedule-I properties; petitioners to file an account as undertaken in the Petitioner's Oath within the stipulated period; office to verify absence of any cross-petition or caveat before issuance of the grant.

1 79.TP/5723/2024

Before :Shri. P. A. Jagdale, Officer on Special Duty, With Testamentary Department Date 30th April 2025

FOR COMPLIANCE:

TP/5723/2024 P. C. Shri. Mosin Naik a/w Shri. Zohib Sayyed Ld. Advocate for the : (AMH20230027366 Petitioner C202400030)

This is a petition for grant of Letters of Administration, under the Provisions of Indian Succession Act, 1925 (for short “IS Act”) for the properties left by the deceased, namely Arjun Lokuram Khaturia (For short “Said deceased”). The petitioners, namely (1) KANCHAN ARJUN KHATURIA, (2) RISHIRAJ ARJUN KHATURIA, (3) SHIVRAJ ARJUN ) KHATURIA, have filed documents.

I have heard Ld. Advocate. I perused the documents, such as true copy of the death certificate of the deceased, identity proof of the deceased, oath in the prescribed format, affidavit of service citation. Ld. Advocate for the Petitioner undertakes to pay the deficit court fee and administration bond is exempted as all the petitioners are legal heirs.

Said deceased died as a married on 04-06-2023 at Mumbai leaving behind him legal heirs, shown in the paragraph No. 4 of the petition. Petitioner states that there are no other legal heirs to the deceased, except heirs shown in the petition. Deceased left properties shown in the schedule-I of the petition.

Citation was issued, which has been duly affixed on the Notice Board of the Hon’ble High Court and notice board of the Collector’s Office at Mumbai and 14 days have been expired vide Rule 397(1) and (4) of the Bombay High Court(O.S.) Rules, 1980(for short “BHC Rules”) and an affidavit to that effect has been filed. Notice to collector has been issued vide Rule 396 of BHC Rules. Till today, no one

2 79.TP/5723/2024

appeared to resist the claim of the petitioner or nothing is brought to the notice regarding pending litigation pertaining to the same properties. Hence, the petition is treated as uncontested one.

In view of the Order, passed in the TP No. 2918/2023, the all-legal heirs of the deceased are petitioners, and therefore they are exempted from the furnishing the surety Bond.

Ld. Advocate for the petitioners submitted that in view of provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the petitioner No.1 being widow, No. 2 being son and no. 3 being daughter of the deceased, are entitled to seek a Letters of Administration. Hence, facts stated by petitioners, on oath, remained unchallenged and required to be accepted. Accordingly, petition deserves to be allowed, as prayed for. Hence, following order:

ORDER

1. Petition is allowed and the Letters of Administration be granted to the petitioners for properties, left by the deceased and shown in the schedule, in prescribed format as per the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

1. The petitioners to file an account as under taken in a Petitioner’s Oath within stipulated period.

1. Before issuance of the grant, the office to verify that there is no cross Petition is pending or caveat resisting the petition is filed.

Officer on Special Duty,

30th April 2025 Officer on Special Duty, with Testamentary Department