Birlas yet to get copy of will

The petition may be "defective", say sources.

The Birla family was yet to receive a copy of the probate petition filed by RS Lodha and the will of Priyamvada Birla as the papers were possibly found to be "defective", sources said here on Wednesday.

As a result, three days have passed since the filing of the application for a probate on Priyamvada Birla's will. But Khaitan & Co, the solicitor of the Birla family, has not received a copy of either the petition or the will.

According to sources in Khaitan and Co, the petition may be "defective". In consequence, the Kolkata High Court was not in a position to start probate proceedings, they said.

"Whatever the nature of the problem, the fact remains that the matter is stalled and the situation may work out in favour of the side trying to avoid a confrontation and also provide some time for negotiations," said legal experts.

Birla sources said the notice would possibly take a few more days to be served and the delay was not exceptional. Sources close to the Lodhas said the matter would take its due course in court. The high court turns down documents unless they are in proper condition.

The court could call upon Fox & Mondal, solicitors acting on behalf of RS Lodha, for fresh copies within a week. The proceedings will start only after that.

Lodha had filed the application for granting probate of the late Priyamvada Birla's will on July 19.

So what does the probate process entail? Any application for granting of probate is sent for "scrutiny" as to whether the application is in conformity of the will, or not.

After the scrutiny by a competent high court officer, such as the deputy registrar of the department of insolvency, the matter is placed before the 'caveat' department for obtaining a no-caveat certificate. This is issued only in case there is no caveat filed by any interested person.

In the present case, Birlas have already filed 17 caveats. So the department will issue notices to all the 17 caveators.

Upon receiving notices, if the caveators do not file objections, the caveat department will forward the case to the Bench of the court, which has jurisdiction to hear the case and to grant probate.

In this case, the Birlas will oppose granting of the probate, in which case it will become a contentious cause and a case will be started for hearing as a suit.

Even if objections are not filed during the process, the court will direct the petitioner (in this case, Lodha) to serve copy of the petition along with the copy of the will to the natural heirs of Priyamvada Birla under the Hindu Succession Act.

If any notice cannot be served, the court may direct the petitioner to attempt to serve the notice upto three times.

Before granting probate,the court will exmine the witnesses of the will for citation and to identify the signature of the makers of the will.

If the process is a contentious cause, then the court has the right to examine all of the contesting parties, noting their status and relation with the maker of the will.

If the court is satisfied on all counts, it will then order its officer to prepare a draft for publication in all leading newspapers stating it was the desire of the court for granting probate and inviting any further objection from unknown persons.

After publication, if no objections are received, the court will grant probate to Lodha, as the executor of the will of the late Priyamvada Birla.