HC dismisses claim to Parsi heiress's estate
MUMBAI, Jan. 6 -- The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a caveat filed by a Parsi man who claimed to have inherited a share in the Kemp's Corner bungalow of a deceased Parsi heiress, using an allegedly forged will.
The court also directed an inquiry into whether details of a testamentary petition pending in the court had been leaked, helping the Parsi man forge a will to claim a part of the property.
The court's decision comes four months after it first directed the prothonotary and senior master of the court to file a complaint against the caveator, Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal, 51, before a magistrate for criminal offences under the BNS and sections of the IPC for falsifying evidence and committing forgery. Mogal had claimed to be "just like a son" to centenarian Hilla Dadysett, the last member of one of the city's most prominent Parsi families. Dadysett died on May 22, 2023.
While the testamentary petition seeking a probate of her will by its executors was pending in the Bombay High Court, Mogul, a resident of Parel, filed a caveat claiming a share in Dadysett's bungalow. While allowing the interim application filed by the executors of the will, Hoshang and Rashna Khan, Justice Milind Jadhav, however, felt a probe needed to be conducted into how Mogul had accessed Dadysett's will. He said in his order on Monday: "...this is a fit case for enquiry as to how the Caveator (Mogal) got hold of the papers of the Testamentary Petition and whether any person working in the Testamentary Department of this Court has colluded with the Caveator in supplying him with the said documents. Such a possibility cannot be ruled out."
The judge directed the prothonotary and senior master of the court to conduct an internal inquiry to "to ensure that all systems are in check to ensure that testamentary proceedings once filed in court are not leaked or fall into the wrong hands."
Hilla Dadysett left behind a will that bequeathed her share in her home, Monte Rosa, a 3,599.54-sq m bungalow at Kemps' Corner, valued at approximately Rs.250 crore, to charity. To back his claim, Mogal produced a will dated March 22, 2023, claiming it was Dadysett's latest will and should hence prevail over her previous will and its codicils. (Codicils are subsequent modifications made to a will or a part of it).
In his order passed on Monday, a single-judge bench of Justice Jadhav observed, "... it is clearly discernible that the alleged will propounded by the caveator (Mogal) did not exist at the time of the date of the deceased and the conduct of the caveator strongly suggests that he has somehow managed to obtain the papers in the testamentary petition filed by the applicants and has subsequently fabricated the alleged will dated March 23, 2023 by using the information from the papers and material in the testamentary petition and claiming it to be a genuine will"....
To read the full article or to get the complete feed from this publication, please
Contact Us.