Undisputed Will Executed Under Law Can Be Relied Upon To Mutate Names Of Persons For Municipal Records: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court held that for purposes of Municipal Records, a will can be relied upon to mutate the names of the persons who are the beneficiaries of the same.A single-judge bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar observed, “In the context of a Will executed in accordance with law and produced before a Municipal Officer, neither the Will is evidence as provided under the Evidence Act, 1872, nor the Municipal Officer, a Court. Thus, for the purposes of the Municipal records, a Will, which is executed in accordance with law and is not disputed, can be relied upon to mutate the names of the persons, who are the beneficiaries of the same, and no purpose would be served to relegate the parties to go through the rigor of filing of a civil suit and spend considerable time and money only to get their names mutated.”The present petition was filed against the order of rejection of the application for mutation on the basis of a Will by the In-Charge, Lease Cell of Municipal Corporation, Indore.The counsel for Respondent No. 2/Indore Municipal Corporation submitted that the issue of whether mutation can be carried out on the basis of a Will has been referred to the Larger Bench by the Co-ordinate Bench of the High Court in the case of Nita Bhattacharya Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others and since the matter is still pending, the impugned order has been passed in the light of the said order only. The counsel also relied on the case of Dinesh Siloniya and Another Vs. Smt. Soram Bai and others wherein it was held that revenue authorities have no jurisdiction to mutate the names of the beneficiaries on the basis of a Will, whether it is disputed or undisputed. The counsel for the petitioner relied on an order of the Gwalior Bench in Anil Kumar Vs. State of M.P. and Others, wherein it was held that mutation can take place on the basis of a Will. It was further contended that if a judgment were under reference, it would still not hold the field unless and until it is set aside. Thus, it was submitted that since the Gwalior Bench has already taken the view that mutation can take place on the basis of a Will, the impugned order should be quashed and the matter be remanded back to the concerned Officer of Municipal Corporation, Indore.The court opined that none of the decisions relied upon by the parties was applicable in the present case as the order was passed by an officer in charge of the Municipal Corporation which is not a 'court' as defined under Section 3 of the Evidence Act, 1872.“Apparently when the order of mutation is not required to be passed by any authority which can be defined as a 'Court' under the Act of 1872, the strict proof as required under Section 68 of the same would not be applicable.”, the Court said.The court also said that it is not required to reflect upon the validity of a Will presented before a Revenue Officer for the purposes of mutation.Thus, the impugned order of rejection of the application was quashed and the matter was remanded back to the concerned authority, with a direction to pass an appropriate order.Case Title: Gopal Das Versus The State Of Madhya Pradesh And Others, Writ Petition No. 38439 of 2024Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (MP) 18Click Here To Read/Download Order

Undisputed Will Executed Under Law Can Be Relied Upon To Mutate Names Of Persons For Municipal Records: Madhya Pradesh High Court

Anukriti Mishra

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