The Bombay High Court has directed officers exercising functions under its Testamentary and Intestate Jurisdiction to, henceforth, restrict orders directing issuance of grants to a direction to issue the grant, without making it subject to verification of whether any cross Petition or Caveat has been filed. The Court further directed that all grants be issued no later than two weeks from the date of the order directing issuance of the grant and that the Registry not entertain any Caveats or cross Petitions after such order, unless directed by the Court.

Justice Abhay Ahuja was hearing an Interim Application seeking rejection of a Caveat and a direction to the Prothonotary & Senior Master to issue probate of the last Will and Testament of Mohammedali Abdullah Sabuwala pursuant to an earlier order dated September 30, 2024.

The Applicant submitted that despite the order directing issuance of probate, no grant had been issued, while a Caveat dated October 7, 2024 and an Affidavit in support dated October 15, 2024 had been entertained by the Testamentary department and the Petition had been converted into a Suit. It was submitted that the Caveator had nothing to do with the property of the testator and that the entire bequest under the Will was to a charity. The Applicant therefore sought general directions to the Testamentary department to issue the grant as on the date of the order directing its issuance.

The Court observed that, in almost all grants issued by officers functioning under the Testamentary and Intestate Jurisdiction, orders directing issuance of the grant in uncontested matters were made with a rider “after verifying whether any cross Petition or Caveat is filed”. The Court held that such a rider was not necessary, observing:

“… such a rider is not necessary as the concerned officer after considering the Petition, hearing the Petitioner and also considering that the necessary formalities as per the High Court rules have been complied with, passes such an order directing issuance of grant.”

The Court accordingly directed that, henceforth, the concerned officers should not make the direction to issue a grant subject to verification of a cross Petition or Caveat, as that exercise must be done before the direction to issue the grant is given. If the concerned officer is not confident of the same, the Court said, it is better that the grant not be issued and the matter be referred to the Court.

The Court further directed that the date of the grant issued pursuant to an order directing its issuance ought to be the date of the order and not the date on which the grant is actually issued. The Court also directed that the grants be issued no later than two weeks from the date of the order directing issuance of the grant and that the Registry should not entertain any Caveats or cross Petitions after such order, unless directed by the Court.

The specific reliefs sought in the Interim Application were directed to be listed on August 18, 2026.

Case Title: Gulamohamed Roshanali Lakhani v. Mohammed Amin M Shafi Qureshi [Interim Application No. 3677 of 2024 in Caveat in Testamentary No. 205 of 2026 in Testamentary Petition No. 1314 of 2021]

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