Probate Application Not Barred by Limitation; Right Accrues When Necessary

Case Snapshot

• Case Name: Sanjay Sharma @ Sanjay Bhardwaj v. Krishnadhan Khaware & Ors.

• Citation: 2026 INSC 708

• Bench: Justice Sanjay Karol

• Date of Judgment: July 15, 2026

• Area of Law: Succession Law, Limitation, Civil Procedure, Probate

Judgment in Brief

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the orders of the District Court and the High Court, which had rejected a probate application as barred by limitation. The Court held that the Indian Succession Act, 1925, does not prescribe any limitation period for filing a probate application. The residuary Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, applies, but the right to apply accrues not from the date of the testator's death but when it becomes necessary to apply. Since the necessity arose only when hostile acts were taken against the Will, the application filed in 2005 was within limitation. The Court further held that a probate application cannot be rejected summarily under Order VII Rule 11 CPC on the ground of limitation when the question of limitation involves disputed questions of fact, such as the date of knowledge.

Relevant Facts

• The testator, Shrilal Singhania, executed a Will on April 15, 1995, and passed away on June 7, 1995.

• The executor, Bhudeo Prasad Singh, applied for probate of the Will on August 31, 2005, before the District Judge, Deoghar.

• The objectors (respondents) filed an application under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC, contending that the probate application was barred by limitation as it was filed ten years after the testator's death.

• The District Court rejected the probate application, holding that the delay was unexplained and unjustified.

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