V. Kalyanaswamy (D) By Lrs. vs L. Bakthavatsalam (D) Thr. Lrs, on 17 July,2020

Bhumi Agarawal
July 24, 2020
The dispute originally started in the year 1955 in the Naidu Family in Coimbatore between the sons of Lakshmiah and Rangaswami for the execution of a will that was made before Rangaswami's death. The case traveled through the hierarchy of cases and finally got decided on 17th July 2020.
The division bench of the apex court constituting Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph held the will valid and upheld the decision rendered by the trial court. The Supreme Court dismissed all the appeals stating that no merit was found in this case.
This case is proof of the slow-paced judicial settlement system.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The dispute was initiated for possession between the family members, the trial court awarded the decision in favour of Lakshmiah stating that the dispute is regarding the possession and there is no need to talk about the will and further declared the will invalid and not genuine.
Two different suits were filed in 1958 and 1963 but both of them resulted in compromise decree. Later, in 1977 after the death of rangaswami and his wife, a suit for partition was filed by A. Algiriswami for partition and the same was ordered by the sub-judge of Coimbatore. In 1982, a suit was filed for injunction and title declaration against A. Algiriswami when he entered into the sale transaction relying on Rangaswami's will, and additionally, the validity of the will was questioned on the ground that the will is obtained by coercion. All the above-mentioned suits were combined and jointly heard. The first appellate court held that there is no proof of partition in 1932 and the decision was reversed the trial court. The first appellate court further held that the will is genuine and valid.
The appeal was filed before the Madras High Court and it restored the decision rendered by the trial court.
The appeal was again filed against the order of the Madras High Court in the apex court in 2008.