Registered Will presumed to be genuine
A registered ‘Will’ carries a presumption of due execution and genuineness, and the burden of proof lies heavily on the party challenging the Will, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Metpalli Lasum Bai (since dead) & Others v Metapalli Muthaih (d) by Legal Heirs [ 2025 INSC 879].
In the above case, the burden was on the defendant who challenged the existence of the Will. The SC set aside the 2014 High Court judgement and restored the 1994 judgment along with the trial court’s decree.
An earlier SC judgement in this regard
The Supreme Court in Pentakota Satyanarayana & Ors vs Pentakota Seetharatnam & Ors [AIR 2005 SC 4362] states that although the registration of a Will does not absolve the propounder from adducing evidence to prove its due execution, the regularity of the official acts of the Registrar in respect of registering the document can be presumed under Section 114 of the Evidence Act, unless the contrary is proved.
Registering authority needs to identify the executant
Similarly, the Section 34 of the Registration Act, 1908 mandates that the registering authority shall conduct an enquiry into the identity of the executant of all registered deeds.
Reference
- Metpalli Lasum Bai (since dead) & Others v Metapalli Muthaih (d) by Legal Heirs [ 2025 INSC 879]
- Pentakota Satyanarayana & Ors vs Pentakota Seetharatnam & Ors [AIR 2005 SC 4362]
