Mewar Royal Family Dispute: Delhi High Court Declines Padmaja Kumari's Bid To Administer Father's Estate

Marking a significant development in the ongoing succession dispute within the Mewar royal family, the Delhi High Court has declined a plea filed by Mewar princess Padmaja Kumari Parmar seeking Letters of Administration over the estate of her late father, Arvind Singh Mewar.Justice Subramonium Prasad held that a petition seeking administration of the estate on the footing of intestacy is not maintainable when the existence of a Will is acknowledged, even if its validity is disputed.“The statutory scheme contemplates that the issue of testamentary validity be adjudicated in the said proceedings (Section 295 of the Indian Succession Ac), which are required to proceed in the nature of a civil suit. Permitting adjudication of the same issue in parallel proceedings founded on intestacy would run contrary to the legislative scheme and may result in inconsistent findings,” the bench observed.The dispute centres around the estate of Arvind Singh Mewar, who passed away on March 16, 2025, leaving behind his wife, son Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, and two daughters, including the petitioner.Padmaja Kumari approached the Court claiming that her father had died intestate and sought to administer the estate on behalf of all legal heirs. While she acknowledged the existence of certain purported testamentary documents, she challenged their validity, alleging that they were executed under suspicious circumstances and when the deceased was not of sound mind.On the other hand, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar relied on a registered Will dated February 7, 2025, under which he claimed to be the sole beneficiary and sought Letters of Administration with the Will annexed.The succession battle had initially led to parallel proceedings before the Bombay High Court and the Rajasthan High Court. However, the Supreme Court transferred both matters to the Delhi High Court to be heard together in order to avoid conflicting findings.The High Court considered whether a petition for Letters of Administration on the basis of intestacy could be maintained when the petitioner herself had disclosed the existence of a Will, though disputing its authenticity.The Court answered this in the negative, holding that once a Will is brought on record, the estate cannot be treated as intestate unless and until the Will is adjudicated in appropriate testamentary proceedings.“The scheme of the Indian Succession Act distinguishes between cases of intestate succession and testamentary succession. Where a person dies intestate, the grant of Letters of Administration serves the purpose of enabling proper administration and preservation of the estate pending determination of rights of succession. In contrast, where a testamentary instrument is propounded, the court is required to examine the due execution and validity of such instrument in accordance with the statutory procedure,” it said.As such, the Court held that the petition filed by Padmaja Kumari was not maintainable in law and the proper course would be to adjudicate the validity of the Will in the testamentary proceedings already pending before it.Appearance: Mr. Arvind Nigam, Sr. Adv., Mr. Abhishek Malhotra, Sr. Adv., Ms. Anuradha Dutt, Adv., Mr. Chaitanya Kaushik, Adv., Ms. Suman Yadav, Adv., Mr. Kunal Dutt, Adv., Mr. Raghav Dutt, Adv., Mr. Avinash K. Singh, Adv., Ms. Seema Mehta, Adv., Mr. Saurabh Pal, Adv., Ms. Vidhi Uppal, Adv., Mr. Kartikay Dutta, Adv, Ms. Anukriti Trivedi, Adv. for Petitioner; Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Senior Advocates with Mr. C Rashmikant, Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Mr. Rohan Dakshini, Mr. Varad Nath, Ms. Jay Sanklecha, Mr. Pratham Vir Agarwal, Ms. Anuja Bhansali, Ms. Urvi Gupte, Mr. Nilay Gupta, Mr. Prabhav Bahuguna, Mr. Shreedhar Kale, Ms. Muskan Sethi, Advs. Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Sr. Adv., Mr. Arun Kathpalia, Sr. Adv., Ms. Bani Brar, Adv., Ms.Shreya Sethi, Adv., Ms. Tahira Kathpalia, Adv. for Respondent No. 2; Mr. Jatinder Kumar Sethi and Mr. Rahul Chaudhary, Advs. for the Applicant. Mr. Parijat Sinha, Mr. Anil Mishra, Mr. Rudra Dutta, Ms. Kashvi Dutta, Ms. Priyal Jain, Mr. Anuj Mishra, Mr. Dev, Advs. for the Applicant Mr. Mrigraj Singh Rathore, Mr. Jitendra Kumar Sethi, Mr. Rahul Choudhary, Mr. Rakesh Karela, Advocates for the Applicant. Mr. Jatinder Kumar Sethi with Mr. Rahul Choudhary, Advocates for Applicants in IA Nos. 1452 and 1453 of 2026Case title: Padmaja Kumari Parmar v. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar And Ors.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 266Case no.: TEST.CAS. 2/2026Click here to read order

Mewar Royal Family Dispute: Delhi High Court Declines Padmaja Kumari's Bid To Administer Father's Estate

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