A development authority must convey an allotted site under a Will validated by a civil court.

The Bangalore Development Authority’s predecessor allotted Site No. 185, Binnamangala 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, to B.M. Appaswamy under a lease-cum-sale agreement dated 23 September 1971.

The petitioners claimed through Appaswamy, their uncle, under his Will dated 30 August 1980.

In a partition suit, the Civil Court upheld the Will; the resulting judgment and decree were subsequently challenged in appeal.

The petitioners made several requests to the Authority for a conveyance. In response to their 2020 representation, the Authority stated that it would take steps to execute the sale deed after they produced the original Will.

The petitioners said the original was marked as an exhibit in another suit and sought a direction to the Authority to execute the conveyance.

1. Whether the Authority could require the petitioners to produce the original Will despite the Civil Court’s finding that it was validly executed

2. Whether the petitioners were entitled to a direction requiring the Authority to execute conveyance documents for Site No. 185

The Court applied the principles governing mandamus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and the effect of a Civil Court’s adjudication of a Will’s validity.

Where a competent Civil Court has found a Will to have been validly executed, the Authority cannot go behind that finding to deny the beneficiaries’ claim; however, the beneficiaries must furnish an authenticated or certified copy of the Will before the Authority acts on it.

The judgment cited no statute beyond Article 226 and no precedent.

The Civil Court had already considered and upheld the execution of Appaswamy’s Will in the partition proceedings. The Authority therefore could not reopen the Will’s validity or deny the petitioners’ claim on that basis.

The petitioners nevertheless had to provide an authenticated copy of the Will so the Authority could act on the instrument and complete the conveyance formalities. The Court accordingly made the direction conditional on production of a certified copy, rather than requiring production of the original.

The petitioners were directed to furnish a certified copy of the Will within one month of receiving a certified copy of the order. Upon its production, the Authority was directed to execute appropriate conveyance documents in favour of the petitioners for Site No. 185 within three months thereafter.