Ajoy Nath Ray, Ashok Bhushan, J. - (1.) THIS is a testamentary appeal, in relation to the alleged last Will and testament, dated the 5th of January, 1993, of the deceased Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa, the famous tiger county of the State of Madhya Pradesh where, as the saying goes at that place, the first natural white tiger cub was born and bred. There are a lot of events and interesting facts involved in this case, but most of these being already dealt with somewhere or the other in the judgment under appeal, we wish to keep the narration of facts as brief as possible.
(2.) THE Maharaja was born sometime in or about the 1920's and died in November, 1995, i.e., quite some three years or so after the Will was signed. The caveator and cavetrix are the present Maharaja Pushpraj Singh and the surviving widow of the Maharaja, namely, Maharani Parveen Kumari. The estate left behind by the Maharaja is extensive and vast; it includes no fewer than three forts including those at Bandhavgarh and Rewa, and there are landed properties of considerable value in Allahabad and Bombay also. The assets are large and the case has been fought out bitterly.
(3.) NOT all the executors made the application for probate, but none of the absent executors has opposed the application either.;