Rectify order on heirship, HC tells govt

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to make corrections in the Government Order (GO) on issuing legal heir certificates.

Justice N Seshasayee observed that the government didn’t take into account Schedule II of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 before issuing the order. The government is required to spend some time to check the correctness of the Government Order, in the light of the provisions provided in personal law of the country, observed the judge.

A petitioner S Rajendran had moved the Madras High Court (MHC) seeking to direct the government to issue him a legal heirship certificate declaring him the inheritant of his deceased brother.

According to the petitioner, as his brother Santhanam died in 2022, his wife was already dead and his brother not having a legal heir, he made an online application for obtaining a legal heir certificate on May 22, 2023. The petition to declare him a class II heir is still pending, said the petitioner.

The additional government pleader M Bindran contended that the Government Order regarding the issuance of a legal heir certificate, dated September 29, 2022, does not take into account class-II heirs.

However, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the GO has flaws. If a person’s parents are no more, one of his class-II heirs has power under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, making the siblings, the brothers and sisters, as class-II heirs, he argued.

After the submissions, the judge directed the government to look into the petitioner’s representation within 8 weeks and disposed of the petition.