Whether active participation by beneficiary of will in execution of will amounts to suspicious circumstance?

 It is settled by a catena of decisions that any and every circumstance is not a suspicious circumstance. Even in a case where active participation and execution of the Will by the profounder/beneficiaries was there, it has been held that that by itself is not sufficient to create any doubt either about the testamentary capacity or the genuineness of the Will. It has been held that the mere presence of the beneficiary at the time of execution would not prove that the beneficiary had taken prominent part in the execution of the Will. This is the view taken by this Court in Sridevi and Ors. v. Jayaraja Shetty and Ors., MANU/SC/0065/2005 : AIR2005SC780 . In the said case, it has been held that the onus to prove the will is on the propounder and in the absence of suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of the will proof of testamentary capacity and the proof of signature of the testator as required by law not be sufficient to discharge the onus. In case, the person attesting the Will alleges undue influence, fraud or coercion, the onus will be on him to prove the same and that as to what suspicious circumstances which have to be judged in the facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Citation : AIR 2005 SC 4362

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Civil Appeal Nos. 5941-5942 of 2005 

Decided On: 29.09.2005

 Pentakota Satyanarayana 

Vs.

 Pentakota Seetharatnam and Ors.

Coram:

Ruma Pal and AR. Lakshmanan, JJ.

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