Disposed¶28

Neena Asthana Amin v. Kamalasine Prasad Asthana

Bombay HC22 Apr 2026TP/102/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Withdrawal of testamentary petition; praecipe; refund of Court fees; refund certificate by Registry within two weeks; Collector of Stamps Mumbai; Pay and Accounts Department Bandra; four-week timeline for refund; Registrar General directions; delay in court fee refund exceeding a year; Bombay High Court; Testamentary and Intestate Jurisdiction; Milind N. Jadhav, J.; April 22, 2026; disposed as withdrawn.

What did the court decide?

Permission to withdraw the Testamentary Petition; refund of Court fees, if any, as per Rules, with the Registry to issue the refund certificate within two weeks and directions to the Collector of Stamps and the Pay and Accounts Department, Bandra to process the refund within four weeks at each stage. ¶28

Neena Asthana Amin vs Kamalasine Prasad Asthana — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the Testamentary Petition may be permitted to be withdrawn. +1 more

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Court's answer

In view of the reasons mentioned in the praecipe, the Testamentary Petition is allowed to be withdrawn and is disposed as withdrawn.

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Ratio / Principle

The Registry shall issue the refund certificate within two weeks on the basis of a server copy of the order, and a copy of the order shall be served on the Collector of Stamps, Old Customs House, Mumbai.

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Key takeaways

The Collector of Stamps shall personally look into the delay and ensure that the Petitioner is refunded the Court fees on presentation of a server copy of the order, with the refund certificate / letter to be issued within four weeks thereafter at the highest.ratio¶19
The In-charge of the Pay and Accounts Department situated at Bandra is directed to ensure that any letter regarding refund of Court fees received from the Office of the Collector of Stamps is complied with within four weeks of receipt, with no delay in compliance and refund.ratio¶24

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (Testamentary and Intestate Jurisdiction), Testamentary Petition No. 102 of 2025 (Coram: Milind N. Jadhav, J.; decided April 22, 2026): On a praecipe dated 22.04.2026, the Testamentary Petition was permitted to be withdrawn and disposed as withdrawn, with refund of Court fees, if any, as per Rules. The Registry was directed to issue the refund certificate within two weeks on the basis of a server copy of the order. Noting complaints that realisation of refunded Court fees takes an invariably long time, sometimes more than a year, the Court directed the Collector of Stamps to personally ensure refund of the Court fees on presentation of a server copy of the order, with the refund certificate/letter to be issued within four weeks at the highest; the In-charge of the Pay and Accounts Department, Bandra was directed to comply with any refund request from the Office of the Collector of Stamps within four weeks of receipt without delay. Copies of the order were to be placed before the Registrar General, who was directed to inform the concerned authorities to ensure compliance, and the Collector of Stamps, Mumbai City and Collector of Stamp, MSD were directed to ensure the timelines are complied with in all cases of refund of Court fees granted by the Court.

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P13.TP.102.2025.doc

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HARSHADA H. SAWANT (P.A.)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

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TESTAMENTARY AND INTESTATE JURISDICTION

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TESTAMENTARY PETITION NO.102 OF 2025

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Kamalasine Prasad Asthana .. Deceased

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Neena Asthana-Amin .. Petitioner

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Ms. Pooja Khandagale, Advocate i/by Mr. Sonal H. Mishal for Petitioner.

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CORAM : MILIND N. JADHAV, J. DATE : APRIL 22, 2026

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P.C.:

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1. Not on Board. Mentioned by way of filing praecipe dated 22.04.2026. Perused the praecipe.

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2. Heard Mr. Khandagale, learned Advocate for Petitioner.

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3. In view of reasons mentioned in the praecipe, Testamentary

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Petition is allowed to be withdrawn.

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4. Refund of Court fees, if any as per Rules.

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5. The Registry shall issue the refund certificate within a period of two weeks from today on the basis of a server copy of this order. The refund certificate shall be submitted by Petitioner to the Collector of Stamp Duty, First Floor, Old Customs House, Mumbai which is the concerned office. Copy of this order shall also be served on the Collector of Stamps, First Floor, Old Customs House, Mumbai.

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P13.TP.102.2025.doc

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6. I am informed by several Petitioners who seek such refund that an extraordinary long period of time is taken for refund of the Court fees from the Collector’s Office and thereafter from the Pay and Accounts Office. Collector of Stamps shall personally look into this and ensure that the Petitioner is refunded the Court fees on presentation of a server copy of this order and the refund certificate / letter is issued within a period of four weeks thereafter at the highest. Petitioner shall give all other details to the Collector of Stamps and the aforesaid order shall be complied with strictly.

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7. I am informed that refund of Court fees is then actually issued by the Pay and Accounts Department situated at Bandra. Copy of this order shall also be placed before the Collector of Stamps, Mumbai City and Collector of Stamps, Mumbai MSD and the In-charge of Pay and Accounts Department, Bandra.

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8. I am informed that after refund certificate is filed, Collector of Stamps Office has to issue letter / some order to the Pay and Accounts Department for generating the refund and the refund is thereafter received from the Pay and Accounts Department of the State of Maharashtra situated in Bandra. In-charge of the Pay and Accounts situated at Bandra is directed to ensure that whenever letter regarding for refund of Court fees is received from the Office of the Collector of Stamps, the same shall be complied with by its Office within a period

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P13.TP.102.2025.doc

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of four weeks from the date of receipt of such request and there shall be no delay in this compliance and refund whatsoever.

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9. This order is issued by Court because this Court in the present roster while handling Testamentary Petitions has received several complaints that even after orders for refund are issued by the Registry of this Court, inter alia, relating to refund of Court fees the same takes an invariably long period of time to realise the Court fees and sometimes more than a year.

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10. Copy of this order shall be placed before the Registrar General of this Court and he is directed to inform the aforementioned Authorities to ensure that the concerned Government Officers shall comply with the above directions and timeline in the interest of the litigants.

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11. Collector of Stamps, Mumbai City and Collector of Stamp, MSD are also directed to take cognizance of this order and ensure that compliance of timelines given in this order are duly complied with in all cases of refund of Court fees which are granted by this Court.

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12. Testamentary Petition is disposed as withdrawn.

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H. H. SAWANT

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[ MILIND N. JADHAV, J. ]

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Digitally signed HARSHADAHANUMANT by HARSHADAHANUMANTSAWANT SAWANT Date: 2026.04.22 18:01:19 +0530

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Neena Asthana Amin v. Kamalasine Prasad Asthana

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Neena Asthana Amin v. Kamalasine Prasad Asthana

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

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Case details

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