CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the state government to bring amendments to a government order (G.O.) to address the issue of class II legal heirs of a married man without a surviving wife and parents. Justice N Seshasayee passed the direction recently on a petition filed by Rajendran of Ambattur, Chennai, seeking an order to officials to issue him and his sisters a legal heir certificate as his brother Santhanam had died and his properties have to be managed by them.
Counsel for the petitioner said the application for a legal heir certificate has been pending since May 22, 2023. Since Santhanam had no child, and his wife and parents died, the certificate should be issued to his brother and two sisters. The additional government pleader informed the court that a government order was issued by the revenue department on September 2022 which has provided guidelines for the issuance of legal heir certificates but does not take into account class-II heirs.
What the G.O. says
As per the G.O., only the father, mother and son of the deceased are eligible for the certificate in the case of a married person, and in the case of an unmarried person, parents, brothers and sisters are entitled to it.
Petitioner’s counsel submitted that the GO is flawed since it overlooks the Hindu Succession Act, of 1956.
Taking into account the submissions, the judge said, “Prima facie this court considers the GO does not appear to have taken into account Schedule II of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956; and so the government has to look into the correctness of the order and make necessary changes.”The judge directed the authorities to dispose of the petitioner’s application within eight weeks.