Gujarat Court Recognises iCloud Data As Inheritable Property, Directs Apple To Help Daughter Recover Dead Father's Locked iPhone Contents
A Civil Court in Gandhinagar has held that "digital data" of a deceased party stored on Apple's 'iCloud account' constitutes a valuable digital asset forming part of the deceased's estate, which would fall under administration under the Indian Succession Act. The petitioners–deceased's wife and daughter had approached the court seeking that it may recognize that the digital data stored in...
A Civil Court in Gandhinagar has held that "digital data" of a deceased party stored on Apple's 'iCloud account' constitutes a valuable digital asset forming part of the deceased's estate, which would fall under administration under the Indian Succession Act.
The petitioners–deceased's wife and daughter had approached the court seeking that it may recognize that the digital data stored in the Apple iCloud account of the deceased constitutes a valuable digital asset forming part of his estate, capable of administration under the Indian Succession Act. They had further sought Grant Letters of Administration in favour of the Petitioners authorizing them to administer the estate of the Deceased, including the digital estate and iCloud data.
3rd Additional Senior Civil Judge Himanushu Choudhary in his order said:
"This Court, having considered the written arguments advanced by the learned Counsel for the Petitioners, is persuaded that the digital data stored in the Apple iCloud account of the Deceased constitutes a valuable digital asset forming part of the estate of the Deceased, capable of administration under the Act.
The existing Indian legal framework, including the broad and inclusive definitions of "movable property" under the General Clauses Act, 1897 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the definition of "property" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the recognition of Virtual Digital Assets under the Income Tax Act, 1961, is sufficiently expansive to accommodate digital data within the conceptual scope of property. The Supreme Court's liberal interpretation of "property" in Jilubhai Nanbhai Khachar v. State of Gujarat (1995) and State of West Bengal v. Subodh Gopal Bose (1953) further supports this conclusion"
The court was hearing a plea by the wife and daughter of the deceased under Section 218, 219, 220, 278 and 283 of the Indian Succession Act, seeking grant of letters of administration in favour of the petitioners in respect of estate of deceased Late Shri Shaishav Shah–i.e., Apple iPhone device and corresponding Apple Account.
The wife filed a no objection stating that she had no if the Petitioner No. 2, is appointed as the Administrator of the estate of the deceased.
The deceased died intestate on 24.04.2025 in Gandhinagar without executing any Will or testamentary instrument. He is survived by two Class-I legal heirs, his wife and daughter the petitioners. The Deceased was the lawful owner and sole user of an Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, wherein the petitioners argued that the phone's iCloud account contains valuable personal data of emotional, sentimental and practical significance to the Petitioners, including photographs, videos, documents, voice notes and contact lists.
The Petitioners approached Apple seeking access to and recovery of the Deceased's digital estate. Apple communicated that it can facilitate password/security reset to permit access to the iCloud account data, but stated that it has no means to retrieve data stored solely on the physical device.
Apple further stipulated that the requester must be the duly appointed administrator or legal personal representative of the Deceased's estate, supported by a court order containing specific declarations– that the Deceased was the user of all accounts associated with the Apple Account; that the requestor is the Deceased's legal personal representative; that as legal personal representative, the requestor is the Deceased's "agent" whose authorization constitutes lawful consent; and that Apple is directed by the Court to assist in recovery of the Deceased's data.
The Petitioners thus moved the court seeking grant of Letters of Administration (intestate) in their favour jointly, so as to obtain lawful authority as legal personal representatives/administrators of the Deceased's estate, and thereby secure access to and recovery of the Deceased's digital estate.
The court noted that a public notice in terms of Section 283 of Act was directed to be published in local newspaper calling upon all the persons or public at large claiming interest in the estate of the deceased to file written objections before the Court within 30 days before grant of Letters of Administration. Public notice was duly published in the newspaper "Sandesh" dated 05.02.2026; no objections to the present petition were received by the.
The petitioners argued that definition of "assets" under Section 2(a) of the Administrators-General Act, 1963, being comprehensive in nature and extending to all movable property of the deceased, is wide enough to include digital data. It was argued that Income Tax Act, 1961 recognizes Virtual Digital Assets under Section 2(47A), acknowledging assets subsisting purely in digital form such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Also a Bill was pending in the Indian Parliament proposes amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 to define digital assets and provide for their posthumous management, reflecting a legislative intent to address this emerging issue. It was submitted that digital assets form an integral part of the deceased's estate and are capable of being inherited by the legal heirs.
On the contention regarding right to privacy of the deceased the court said that the right being an inherently personal right, does not survive the death of the individual, as clarified by the Supreme Court in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017).
"Applying the maxim actio personalis moritur cum persona, no claim in respect of the right to privacy of the Deceased can be sustained so as to obstruct the lawful heirs from administering his digital estate. Furthermore, in the absence of a nominee appointed by the Deceased under Section 14 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the rights relating to the management and access of the Deceased's digital data logically devolve upon the legal heirs, who step into the position of the data principal for the limited purpose of administering the estate," the court said.
The court however appointed Petitioner No. 2-the deceased's daughter as the Administrator of the estate. It directed Apple Distribution International Limited and/or its affiliates to assist the Administrator in recovery of the Deceased's data and to provide assistance, to the extent technically feasible, in recovery of any locally stored data on the physical device.
The plea was disposed of.
Case title: Smt. Sadhna Shaishav Shah & Anr. v/s NIL
CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 17/2026
Counsel for the petitioner: Advocate JJ Bhatt