Mumbai: Signature in a language which is
ordinarily not used by a person does not make the document
bogus, the Bombay High Court has held while validating a will.
The will in question was of one Smt Melwani, a Sindhi
by birth. She had signed it in Gurumukhi, her mother tongue.
By this will, dated March 20, 1991, she had bequethed
her flat in suburban Bandra upon her son, Giridhari Melwani.
Soon thereafter, she passed away. When Giridhari filed
probate application in High Court to get the will validated,
Veena Giridhari, her daughter-in-law, challenged it.
Veena contended that the flat in Bandra had been
purchased from the funds given by her late husband Chandru,
and the will was a bogus document, made to usurp the flat.
Apart from alleging that her mother-in-law was not in
a sound state of mind, Veena's lawyer also pointed out that
prior to the execution of the will, Smt Giridhari always
signed in Urdu.
To prove this, two earlier Vakalat-namas (letters
authorising lawyers) and the flat's nomination made by her was
produced, all of which bore signatures in Urdu.
However, refuting the contention, Justice Roshan Dalvi
said in the judgement early this month that this was not too
significant, as "since Urdu is a better known language, she
could have signed those papers in Urdu language.
"That would not prevent her from signing her own will
in Gurumukhi," the judge said, upholding the will.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, May 23, 2010, 17:37