The Allahabad High Court, in a key judgement, has stated that the registration of a will in Uttar Pradesh is not compulsory. It is important to note that the state government had mandated will registration as of August 23, 2004. The court clarified that the need to register a will under the Uttar Pradesh Amendment Act 2004 is not mandatory, and a will would not be invalidated even if it’s not registered, whether made before or after the law.
According to legal agencies, the division bench of Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar declared that Section 169(3) of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act will be null to the extent that it mandates the registration of a will. The High Court made clear that an unregistered will shall not be considered invalid.
The bench disposed of a reference sent by the Chief Justice arising from a petition filed by Pramila Tiwari. The High Court acknowledged that Section 169(3) of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950, was contrary to the Indian Registration Act, 1908, thereby rendering the 2004 amendment law requiring mandatory registration null and void, effectively cancelling subsection 3 of Section 169.
The then-government of Uttar Pradesh had made will registration compulsory from August 23, 2004. The High Court, in the Shobhanath case, had stated that will registration was necessary after the law came into effect, but in the Jahan Singh case, it was suggested that a will takes effect after death, hence it should be registered at the time of presentation. The Chief Justice sent the reference to the division bench for clarification on these conflicting views.
