Supreme Court junks Rajasthan's claim over estate of former Constituent Assembly member Raja Sardar Singh

The Supreme Court recently dismissed an appeal filed by the Rajasthan government staking claim to the assets left behind by the erstwhile ruler of Khetri and former Constituent Assembly member, Raja Bahadur Sardar Singh [State of Rajasthan v Ajit Singh & Ors].

The dispute arose after Singh died in 1987 without leaving behind any children to inherit his property.

On September 1, a Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma upheld a will made by Singh that had left all his assets to Khetri Trust, a charitable trust founded by him.

The Court rejected the Rajasthan government's claim that Singh's estate should have devolved to the State by virtue of the Rajasthan Escheats Regulation Act, 1956, which allows the State to acquire abandoned or unclaimed properties (escheatment).

The top court reasoned that this principle of escheatment would only come into play if a person dies without leaving behind a will and there are no familial legal heirs to whom the properties can be passed down to.

In this case, however, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court had already upheld Singh's will to pass on his estate to the charitable trust he founded.

Therefore, the top court ruled that the Rajasthan government was not entitled to cite the 1956 Act to stake any claim in the late king's estate.

"The probate of the Will of the testator (Singh) was granted by the Division Bench of the High Court. There is a pronouncement on the validity of the Will of the testator by a competent court of law. In the circumstances, the legatees under the Will (the Khetri Trust) would be the persons who would succeed to the property. We find that the State of Rajasthan has no locus standi to challenge the judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court on the strength of the escheat of the properties of the testator," the Court ruled.

Singh, who was the ruler of Khetri before independence and a former Rajya Sabha member, had no legal heirs at the time of his death in January 1987.

Prior to his demise, Singh executed a will - drafted by his friend, Senior Advocate Danial Latifi - at Delhi’s Tis Hazari court in 1985. The will was executed in the presence of two attesting witnesses and the Registrar. 

Singh willed his entire estate, including movable and immovable assets, to the Khetri Trust. The bequeathed assets were to vest in the Trust and was to be used primarily for educational, research and scientific purposes.

Upon Singh’s death, a testamentary case seeking probate (process of proving a will) was filed by the executors of the will in the Delhi High Court.

A single-judge of the High Court initially dismissed this testamentary case, holding that the Rajasthan government is entitled to decide on how to deal with Singh's property under the Rajasthan Escheats Regulation Act.

The Khetri Trust challenged this ruling before a Division Bench of the High Court, which in 2023 set aside the single judge ruling and validated Singh's will.

This Division Bench ruling was challenged by the Rajasthan government before the Supreme Court.

However, the top court dismissed the State's appeal. It ruled that the State is a stranger to the present dispute since a competent court has already upheld the validity of Singh's will.

This will can only be challenged by any heirs (agnates and cognates in this, since Singh did not have any children/ immediate heirs) who could stand to inherit Singh's property, the Court observed.

Even if the will had not been upheld, the State cannot claim Singh's property citing the 1956 Act unless there are no such familial heirs left to inherit the property, the Court added.

"Till that stage arrives, the Government is a stranger to the probate proceedings as well as any proceeding regarding succession under the personal law," it said while rejecting the State's appeal.

The Court also dismissed a plea filed by two relatives of Singh after noting that they had previously withdrawn a civil suit staking claim to Singh's property and raising certain objections to his will.

"The impact of the withdrawal of the objections as well as the withdrawal of the suit being civil case would imply that they have no objection whatsoever for the grant of probate of the Will to the respondent- legatees," the Court observed.

The top court further criticised them for not disclosing this withdrawal in their plea and imposed costs of ₹1 lakh on each of these relatives for suppression of material facts.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the Rajasthan government.

Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora represented Singh's relatives.

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibil and S Niranjan Reddy appeared for the respondents in the plea filed by Singh's relatives.

[Read Judgment]