MP High Court: Unproved Will Cannot Override Legal Heirs’ Rights in Ancestral Property

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that a person claiming exclusive ownership of ancestral property on the basis of a Will must prove the Will strictly in accordance with law. If the Will is not legally proved, it cannot defeat the rights of legal heirs who inherit the property through natural succession.

The case arose from a dispute over agricultural land in Ratlam district. The plaintiffs claimed that the land originally belonged to their grandfather and had devolved upon family members through inheritance. They challenged a sale deed executed in 1998, arguing that the seller had no exclusive ownership over the property.

The defendants relied on a registered Will allegedly executed in 1983, claiming that the entire property had been bequeathed to one family member, who later sold the land. They argued that the sale was valid because the seller had become the sole owner under the Will.

After examining the evidence, the High Court found that the defendants failed to prove the Will. No attesting witness was produced before the court, the original Will was not placed on record, and no satisfactory explanation was offered for its absence.

The Court emphasized that a Will changes the normal line of inheritance and therefore carries a heavy burden of proof. Unless its execution is established through legally admissible evidence, courts cannot rely upon it to deprive legal heirs of their succession rights.

Since the Will remained unproved, the claim of exclusive ownership also failed. Consequently, the seller had no authority to transfer the entire property through the sale deed. Upholding the trial court’s findings, the High Court declared the sale deed invalid and reaffirmed the rights of the legal heirs over the ancestral property.