- (1.) THIS suit has been filed by Smt. Leela Karwal, widow, of Prof. G. D. Karwal, for grant of Letters of Administration with a copy of the will annexed directed to the house No. 464, Mumfordganj, Allahabad, and nothing else.
(2.) THE pedigree which will be relevant for the decision of the suit is as under: - Prof. G. D. Karwal died on 24th December, 1969. Smt. Lajwanti, the first wife of Prof. G. D. Karwal, died in 1926. Thereafter, Prof. G. D. Karwal married Smt. Leela Karwal, who was real younger sister of Smt. Lajwanti. From the first wife, there are five children; two sons and three daughters, mentioned above, and from the second wife, one married daughter Smt. Prem Luther. The suit has been flied on the allegations that Prof. G. D. Karwal had executed a holograph will at Allahabad, which was duly attested by Prof. P. C. Jain and his wife Smt. Shanti Jain. It has been further alleged that the deceased had himself constructed the house in question out of his personal money and that he had a right to dispose of the said property by means of the will. In the plaint, which was originally filed, no date of the will had been mentioned. In the rejoinder affidavit of Smt. Leela Karwal, for the first time, it was stated that the will was executed on the Rakshabandhan day in the year 1969 in his own handwriting. When the notices were issued to the next of the kins, caveats were filed by Col. J. D. Karwal, the eldest son of the first wife of Prof. G. D. Karwal, and Km. Janak Karwal, the youngest unmarried daughter of the first wife of Prof. Karwal. Col. J. D. Karwal as well as Km. Janak Karwal have, inter alia, objected to the grant of the letters of administration on the ground that, in fact, no will had been executed by Prof. Karwal. It was stated that the application for the grant of a succession certificate, which had been filed earlier, no mention had been made of the alleged will which has now been set up by Smt. Leela Karwal. It has been further alleged that even in the mutation proceedings before the Nagar Mahapalika, Allahabad, the will was not set up by Smt. Leela Karwal in order to get her name mutated in respect of house No. 464, Mumfordganj, Allahabad (hereinafter referred to as the house in dispute ).
(3.) ON the pleadings of the parties, however, the following six issues were framed on 15th Feb. , 1983: - 1. Whether the document alleged to be executed on Rakshabandhan day of 1969 by late Prof. G. D. Karwal and alleged to be his last will is a document of a testamentary nature ? 2. Whether the alleged document executed by Prof. G. D. Karwal was duly executed ? 3. Whether the present petition for grant of letters of administration filed after a lapse of 13 years of the death of Prof. G. D. Karwal is entertainable in law ? 4. Whether the petition is maintainable in regard to house No. 464, Mumfordganj, Allahabad, the title of which is alleged to be in dispute ? 5. Whether the present petition is maintainable in law or not in view of the pendency of suit No. 168 of 1982 filed in respect of nerve No. 464, Mumfordganj, Allahabad? To what relief is the plaintiff entitled? 6. Besides the documentary evidence on the record, on behalf of the plaintiff Smt. Leela Karwal, statement of Smt. Leela Karwal was recorded as P. W. 1 and statement of Prakash Chandra Jain, who was the attesting witness, was recorded on her behalf as P. W. 2. No other witness was examined by the plaintiff. Col. J. D. Karwal, however, entered in the witness box. His evidence was recorded as R. W. 1. One more witness was produced by the defendants, namely, Ashok Singh Chaudhan (R. W. 2 ).;