Sameer Kapoor & Anr. v. The State through Sub-Division Magistrate South & Ors.
Background
An English resident, Smt. Kailash Kapoor, left a will in 1990 and died in 2001. A probate for her will was granted by a court in Birmingham, England in 1997. In 2001, one of her grandchildren applied before the Delhi High Court for "letters of administration" (a legal recognition needed to manage her property in Delhi) based on that English probate, under Section 228 of the Indian Succession Act. The other grandchildren (appellants), who had already sold off her Indian properties based on the will, argued this application was filed too late, more than three years after the probate was granted in 1997, and should be thrown out at the threshold.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that while the three-year limitation period under Article 137 of the Limitation Act does apply to such applications, the "right to apply" is a continuing right that exists as long as it remains necessary to exercise it: it does not automatically start ticking merely because a foreign probate was granted. Here, the respondent's need to apply arose only when the appellants began dealing with the Delhi properties after their father's death in 2000, so the application was not time-barred. The Court agreed with the Delhi High Court's Single Judge and Division Bench that the application should not be thrown out at the preliminary stage and dismissed the appeal.
Lesson Learnt
When someone has inherited property through a will probated abroad, their right to later seek formal recognition in India for that will is not automatically lost after three years from the foreign probate: the clock depends on when it genuinely became necessary to apply, such as when someone else starts interfering with the inherited property.