P L D 1964 W (PLP)

(a) Mutation‑

Mere production of unregistered will‑Not sufficient in itself for deciding mutation in accordance therewith Legal heirs to be given opportunity to contest validity and execu tion of will. (b) Succession‑

Claim based on will (unregistered)‑Validity and execution of will not proved‑Succession, in circumstances, held, governed by shariat. This revision petition is about inheritance to considerable landed property situated in village Mangoke, district Gujranwala, left by Mohammad Ishaq Shah who died on 14‑1‑62 leaving behind a widow, Hidayat‑un‑Nisa, a son Ghaffar Hussain Shah and a daughter Bismillah Begum who is the petitioner before me. The Assistant Collector mutated the property in the names of Sabir Hussain, son of Ghaffar Hussain, i.e., grandson of the deceased and Zubaida Begum, wife of Ghaffar Hussain Shah on the strength of an alleged will executed on 29‑9‑

61. This was an unregistered document and the decision was arrived at in the absence of Bismillah Begum who is obviously one of the legal heirs of the deceased under shariat. An appeal was preferred to the Collector who summarily rejected it stating that the Revenue Officer was not expected to go into the intricacies of a will. The learned Additional Commissioner in revision also declined to interfere though it was argued before him that the will was a questionable document and its due execution etc. should have been gone into further that the decision was arrived at in the absence of one of the three legal heirs of the deceased. A second revision has now been preferred. Two arguments have been urged before me. Firstly that it was wrong of the Assistant Collector to have decided the mutation in the absence of the legal heirs of the deceased. Secondly that the authenticity of the will which is an unregistered document should have been gone into even though in a summary manner. The orders passed by the officers below do not show that its execu tion was in any way proved before the Assistant Collector who did not go into this matter at all and accepted the document at its face as valid and properly executed The mere fact that a docu ment has been produced is not sufficient in rtsc if to justify deciding the mutation in accordance therewith and an opportunity should have been given to the petitioner to contest the validity of this will and its execution. The decision arrived at by the Assistant Collector is thus obviously incorrect and as the will is questioned and has not been proved it should be the persons who claim succession under it who should be directed to go to the civil Courts. The succession in these circumstances will be governed by shariat. I would accordingly accept the revision petition, set aside the orders passed by the officers below and direct that the inheritance of the deceased should be mutated as follows: --‑ Hidayat‑un‑Nisa, widow 1 /8 Ghaffar Hussain Shah, son 7/12 Bismillah Begum, daughter 7/24 S. Q. Revision accepted.