Disposed¶30

Mary Prema v. the District Collector

Legal heirship certificate – nature and effect

Madras HC21 Jul 2025WP/18402/2024

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Case brief

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What is this about?

Keywords: legal heirship certificate; relationship certificate; removal of name from legal heirship certificate; TN7202107172763; certificate dated 27.07.2021; representation dated 06.04.2024; writ of mandamus; Tahsildar Avadi Thaluk; District Collector Thiruvallur; mother of deceased; Class 1 and Class 2 legal heirs; priority of heirs; entitlement governed by personal law; G.O.Ms.No.110 Revenue and Disaster Management dated 13.03.2024; Mary Prema; L.Sowriammal; N. Anand Venkatesh J.; writ petition disposed of, no costs.

What did the court decide?

A legal heirship certificate is more in the nature of a relationship certificate. ¶29

Mary Prema Vs the District Collector — Madras HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Disposed

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Issue for consideration

Whether the District Collector and the Tahsildar (respondents 1 and 2) must act on the petitioner's representation dated 06.04.2024 seeking removal of respondent 3's name from legal heirship certificate No.TN7202107172763 dated 27.07.2021 (writ of mandamus sought). +1 more

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Court's answer

A legal heirship certificate is more in the nature of a relationship certificate.

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Ratio / Principle

As per G.O.Ms.No.110 (Revenue and Disaster Management, Revenue Administration Wing, dated 13.03.2024), the relationship of the mother and father to the deceased may also be mentioned in the legal heirship certificate.

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Key takeaways

Such mere mention in the legal heirship certificate does not by itself confer any right, and does not allow Class 2 legal heirs to claim any priority over Class 1 legal heirs.ratio¶29
Entitlement over the property left by the deceased is governed by personal law and can be decided only in line with personal law; it cannot be decided in line with the legal heirship certificate issued by the Tahsildar.ratio¶29
The 3rd respondent's name has been included in the legal heirship certificate only to show her relationship with the deceased as his mother.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Legal heirship certificate — nature and effect — Madras High Court (N. Anand Venkatesh J.) disposed of a writ petition in which the petitioner, wife of the deceased, sought action on her representation dated 06.04.2024 for removal of the 3rd respondent's (the deceased's mother's) name from legal heirship certificate dated 27.07.2021 bearing No.TN7202107172763 issued by the Tahsildar. Held: a legal heirship certificate is more in the nature of a relationship certificate; even per G.O.Ms.No.110, Revenue and Disaster Management (Revenue Administration Wing), dated 13.03.2024, the relationship of the mother and father to the deceased can be mentioned therein; such mention by itself confers no right and gives no priority to Class 2 legal heirs over Class 1 legal heirs; entitlement over the deceased's property is governed by personal law and cannot be decided on the basis of the Tahsildar's certificate. The 3rd respondent's name stood included only to show her relationship as mother of the deceased; the clarification was held sufficient to take care of the petitioner's grievance. Petition disposed of; no costs; connected miscellaneous petitions, if any, closed.

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WP No. 18402 of 2024

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

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DATED: 21-07-2025

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CORAM

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THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE N. ANAND VENKATESH

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WP No. 18402 of 2024

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1. Mary Prema

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W/o.Late K.L.Arokianathan

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Petitioner(s)

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The District Collector Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

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2.The Tahsildar

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Avadi Thaluk, Avadi Railway Station Road, Thirumalai Rajapuram, Avadi, Chennai-054.

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3.L.Sowriammal

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W/o.Late Lourdunathan

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Respondent(s)

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PRAYER

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Directing the 1st and 2nd respondents to take action on the petitioner's representation dated 06.04.2024 regarding the removal of the 3rd respondent's name from the legal heirship certificate dated 27.07.2021 bearing No.TN7202107172763.

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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WP No. 18402 of 2024

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For Petitioner(s): Mr.H.Adaikala Arockiaraj

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For Respondent(s): Mr.S.Jayachandran Government Advocate asst by Mr.r.Neelakandan for R1 & 2 Mr.V.Umashankar for R3

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ORDER

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This writ petition has been filed for the issue of a writ of mandamus directing the first and second respondents to take action based on the representation made by the petitioner on 06.04.2024, wherein the petitioner is seeking for removing the name of the third respondent dated 27.07.2021.

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Heard Mr.H.Adaikala Arockiaraj, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.S.Jayachandran, learned Government Advocate assisted by Mr.r.Neelakandan, learned counsel for the 1st and 2nd respondents and Mr.V.Umashankar, learned counsel for the 3rd respondent.

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The main ground that has been raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner is the wife of the deceased and they had a son. Instead of mentioning the name of the petitioner and the son in the legal heirship certificate, the name of the third respondent, who is the mother of the deceased, was also included. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner submitted representation to remove the name of the 3rd respondent.

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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WP No. 18402 of 2024

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In the considered view of this Court, the legal heirship certificate is more in the nature of a relationship certificate. Even as per the G.O.Ms.No.110, Revenue and Disaster Management, Revenue Administration Wing, dated 13.03.2024, the relationship of the mother and father to that of the deceased can also be mentioned in the legal heirship certificate. That by itself will not give any right to the Class 2 legal heirs to claim any priority over the Class 1 legal heirs. They will always be governed by their personal law and the entitlement over the property left by the deceased can be decided only in the line with the personal law and it cannot be done in line with the legal heirship certificate issued by the Tahsildar. This clarification will sufficiently take care of the grievance expressed by the petitioner. It is reiterated that the name of the third respondent has been included in the legal heirship certificate only to show her relationship with the deceased as the mother of the deceased.

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