(Prayer: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issue of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records relating to the impugned order passed by the first respondent in his proceedings Na.Ka.No.21908/2012/C2, dated 17.09.2012, quash the same and consequently, directing the first respondent to issue legal heir certificate in favour of the petitioners.)
1. Whether the Tahsildar is having the power to issue a legal heir Certificate recognising the status of brothers and sisters of the deceased is the question involved in this Writ Petition.
2. The petitioners 1 and 3 are the brothers of Thiru. M. Murugesan, who died on 08 August, 2012. The second petitioner is the sister. The brother of the petitioners remained unmarried and he died intestate on 08 August, 2012. The petitioners wanted recognition of their legal status. The petitioners, therefore, made an application before the Tahsildar, Madurai, on 31 August, 2012, requesting the said authority to grant a legal heir certificate. After enquiry, the application was rejected on the ground that the Tahsildar has no power to issue legal heir certificate to the Class II heirs. It is the said order which is impugned in this Writ Petition.
3. When this Writ Petition came up for consideration, I have directed the learned Special Government Pleader to take instructions from the first respondent as to whether there are any Government Orders governing the subject. The learned Special Government Pleader later submitted that there are no comprehensive Government Orders in the matter of issuance of legal heir certificates.
4. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Special Government Pleader for the respondents.
5. The petitioners claim that they are the brothers and sister of Thiru. M. Murugesan, who died intestate on 08 August, 2012. The Tahsildar of the concerned area is the authority to issue legal heir certificate. The application was rejected solely on the ground that the Tahsildar has no jurisdiction to issue a certificate, in case the applicants are class II heirs.
6. The parties are Hindus and as such, the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 would apply to them in the matter of succession.
7. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 contains detailed provisions with respect to general rules of succession in the case of males and females. Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 deals with general rules of succession in the case of males. The said provision indicates that the property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve firstly, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class I, secondly, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class II and thirdly, upon the agnates of the deceased, if there is no heir of any of the other two classes and lastly, upon the cognates of the deceased.
8. Section 9 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 provides the manner of succession among the heirs in the schedule. The schedule appended to Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 contains the list of class I and Class II heirs. The son, daughter, widow, mother, etc., are included in class I. The father, brother, sister are all included in class II.
9. The petitioners are claiming themselves to be the class II heirs. The Tahsildar pleads his inability to consider the case, as according to him, it would be very difficult to collect the details of the class II heirs. I am not inclined to accept the said submission.
10. The Revenue Department is having lower level officers, who are familiar with the people living in the concerned village. There are revenue officers under the Tahsildar. There are also village officers functioning in the villages and they would be in a position to know the members of the family. The Village Administrative Officer is expected to know each and every family of the village. He cannot plead ignorance about the relationship. The Village Administrative Officer is the Revenue Co-ordinating Officer of the Revenue Department. The Village Administrative Officer must keep a close watch on the village and he should update his information. The problem of issuing a legal heir certificate to class II heirs could be resolves, in case a workable method is adopted by the revenue authorities. Since enquiry has to be made, the Tahsildar can direct the parties to produce birth certificates indicating the relationship. The Tahsildar can also conduct an enquiry in the village level through the Village Administrative Officer. In case, at a later point of time, it is turned out to be a false claim, it is open to the Tahsildar to can the certificate and even criminal action can be taken. The difficulty to identify the members of the class II heirs cannot be a reason to reject the request for issuance of legal heir certificates. Therefore, I am of the view that the first respondent was not justified in passing the impugned order. Accordingly, the impugned order is quashed.
11. The petitioners are given liberty to make a fresh application before the Tahsildar along with a sworn affidavit. They should also produce the birth certificate of the deceased and their birth certificates, in case births were duly registered before the Registrar of Births. It is open to the Tahsildar to conduct an enquiry in the matter through the Village Administrative Officer. The Village Administrative Officer is entitled to conduct a detailed enquiry in the matter and to submit a report to the Revenue Inspector, who in turn, will cross verify the report and thereafter, will forward it to the Tahsildar. It is for the Tahsildar to pass appropriate orders thereafter, the basis of the affidavits and the result of enquiry conducted by the Village Administrative Officer and Revenue Inspector.
12. The petitioners are given fifteen days time to make an application before the first respondent. In case any such application is made, the first respondent is directed to conduct an enquiry and decide the matter as expeditiously as possible and in any case, or before 31 May, 2013.
13. The Writ Petition is allowed as indicated above. No costs.