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Judgment
The petitioner, aged about 72 years, is aggrieved against the order passed by the respondent dated 06.04.2015, rejecting his request for grant
of legal heir certificate for her deceased mother, by name Nagubai, only on the reason that the respondent was not in a position to ascertain the
legal heirs of the deceased, as she died 17 years ago.
The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that all the details with regard to the legal heirs of the deceased mother were furnished before
the respondent and it is open for the respondent to enquire at the place, where the deceased lived, to ascertain the claim of the petitioner.
Therefore, he submitted that the respondent is not justified in rejecting the request of the petitioner.
On the other hand, the learned Additional Government Pleader for the respondent submitted that since the application was made after a period
of 17 years, the request of the petitioner has not been considered.
Heard both sides.
The only reason stated in the impugned order is that the respondent is not in a position to ascertain the legal heirs of the deceased, since the
death had taken place 17 years back. That cannot be a ground for rejecting the petitioner''s request for issuing the legal heir certificate, as it is the
duty of the respondent to conduct proper enquiry in the locality and find out, as to who are the legal heirs, apart from perusing the supportive
documents filed by the petitioner. Without doing so, the respondent is not justified in rejecting the petitioner''s application. Accordingly, this writ
petition is allowed and the impugned order is set aside. Consequently, the matter is remitted back to the respondent to conduct proper enquiry in
the locality and pass appropriate orders. Such exercise shall be done by the respondent within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of
a copy of this order. No costs.