The Supreme Court, in a decision delivered on July 30, 2025, by a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, set aside a judgment of the Allahabad High Court that had held a registered Will invalid solely on the ground that the beneficiary’s adoption was void. The Court remanded the matter for fresh adjudication on both the issues: the validity of the adoption and the validity of the Will.
The dispute arose during consolidation proceedings under the Uttar Pradesh Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1953. Two central questions were raised before the High Court:
- Whether Sunil Kumar was validly adopted by the deceased Chandrabhan, and
- Whether Chandrabhan had executed a valid registered Will in favour of Sunil Kumar, who is the predecessor-in-interest of the appellants Sushma and another.
The High Court had concluded that once the adoption was found to be invalid, no benefit under the Will could accrue to Sunil Kumar. It observed:
“The Will in dispute was executed by Chandrabhan in favour of his adopted son Sunil Kumar. Once it is found that adoption deed of Sunil Kumar was void and Sunil Kumar is not the adopted son of Chandrabhan, the validity of Will cannot be assumed.”
The Supreme Court found this reasoning flawed in law. The bench observed:
“For validation of the Will, it was not obligatory to prove that Sunil Kumar was validly adopted or that a Will could not be executed in his favour unless he was found to have been adopted. Such an issue could arise only when Sunil Kumar would have claimed intestate succession.”
The Court reiterated the well-settled principle:
“Ordinarily, a registered Will, unless shrouded by strong suspicious circumstance, ought not be discarded.”
In light of these observations, the Court set aside the Allahabad High Court’s judgment dated 20.12.2022 and remitted the case with a request to re-determine both questions afresh—whether Sunil Kumar was validly adopted, and whether the Will suffers from any illegality even if adoption is not proved.
The bench made it clear that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits and directed the High Court to decide the matter independently, based on the record and uninfluenced by the previous findings. The Court also directed that the interim status quo shall continue till the High Court delivers its final decision.
All pending applications were disposed of.
