Know about the Sanctity of a registered will

Punjab News Express/Manoj Sarin
JALANDHAR: Under the Indian legal system, the will of a person can be got registered with the registering authority under Indian Registration Act, 1908. As per the said system, the executants along with two witnesses appears before the registering authority along with the document of will. The said document of will shall contain signatures of the executants as well as the attesting witnesses. At the time of preparing the will, the testator does not foresee the mind boggling technicalities and legalities to be faced by the executor, to prove that will.

At the time of registering the will, the registration authority, as a matter of routine, puts its signature on the said will in order to register it. The state of mind of the executant, his mental and physical health, any duress or free will of the executant, etc. are not at taken into consideration by the said authority. Interestingly and ironically, these things matter when any dispute regarding the will is brought before the court by any party. Moreover the registering authority never questions the executant as to who scribed the will and sequence of putting signatures by the executants and the witnesses.

The respective governments are insensitive about the problems, which crop up after the will is brought for execution. The civil courts are put to task by the litigants to interpret the state of mind of the executants, who had already died by the time the will is challenged before them.
Is there any restriction for the registering authorities to take note of such practical problems? Rules can be made for registration of will under which all the problems can be taken care of. We need SANCTITY of a registered will. Why not executants put to questioning by the registering authority? Why not the executants of will be medically examined by the authorized medical practitioner before the registration? Why not the requirement of attesting witnesses is dispensed with? Why not the will be scribed/written at the office of the registrar of will?

Section 63 of Indian Succession Act, 1925 lays down the procedure to execute a will. Whereas section 68 of The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 states the procedure to prove a will in a court of law, in case of any litigation. Any will can be registered under Indian Registration Act, 1908. As evident from the year of coming in existence of the aforementioned statutes/acts, it is clear that we are still governed by the colonial rules and regulations. No serious attempt has been made by the successive governments to look into the relevance of these statutes in the present context.

The procedure stated under Section 63 of Indian Succession Act, 1925 for execution of a will might be relevant 90 years ago but due the advancement in the society, technology, system, etc. has taken a back stage. Why a testator has to procure two witness to execute a will? Why the scribe/writer/typist of the will document is to be produced as witness the court in case of litigation? This thing might be relevant 90 years ago, when the ID, residence proofs, etc. were not readily available with the Indian citizens so any person willing to right a will was to be identified by two witnesses. But today, every Indian is having some sort of document, which can identify him easily along with his photograph.
Moreso, section 68 of The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 makes an exception that for proving a will in a court of law, at least one witness must be examined. And it does not give any weightage to a registered will.

Shall we allow this thing to continue for all times to come? There must be end to it. We want serious suggestions from the vigilant Indians, in order to give our suggestions to the appropriate authority, for making necessary changes in the various statutes, rules, etc. as per the requirements of the present scenario.