1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY TESTAMENTARY AND INTESTATE JURISDICTION TESTAMENTARY PETITION NO.913 OF 2008 Ramdas Yeshwant Maghade ..Deceased. Lata Ramdas Maghade and another ..Petitioners. .... Mr. A.S. Gadkari for the Petitioners. Mr. Harish R. Pawar for the Applicant / Claimant. .... CORAM : DR. D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, J. 24th August, 2009. P.C. : 1. The Petition has been instituted by (i) Smt. Lata @ Lata Ramdas Maghade and (ii) Ms. Anuradha Ramdas Maghade for the grant of a succession certificate. The deceased Ramdas Yeshwant Maghade married Smt. Lata (Ashwini) Ramdas Maghade on 7th June, 1983. A son by the name of Pankaj was born from the wedlock on 2nd May, 1984. During the subsistence of the First Marriage with Lata @ Ashwini, Ramdas married the First Petitioner on 16th May, 1985. From the wedlock the Second Petitioner Anuradha was born on 29th November, 1986. 2. Ramdas died on 13th June, 2007. During his lifetime Ramdas was 2 employed with the Industrial Training Institute (I.T.I.), 374, Sane Guruji Marg, Mumbai 400 011. 3. The marriage between Ramdas and the First Petitioner Smt. Lata @ Latabai is void since Ramdas had on the date of the marriage with the First Petitioner his spouse living from an earlier marriage. However, the Second Petitioner Anuradha is a daughter born from the marriage. The legitimacy of the Second Petitioner is protected by Section 16(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Second Petitioner would be entitled to a share in the estate of her father Ramdas together with the mother of the deceased Smt. Matchchagandha; the first wife Lata (Ashwini) and the son from the first marriage, Pankaj. 4. In the schedule of assets a reference has been made to the family pension, gratuity, provident fund and group insurance. The learned counsel are agreed in stating before the Court that insofar as the family pension is concerned it is justifiably payable exclusively to the first wife Smt Lata (Ashwini) Ramdas Maghade. An order to that effect has been 3 passed on 22nd January, 2008 by the office of the Accountant General, Mumbai. Insofar as the gratuity is concerned, the amount has been wrongly mentioned as Rs.61,380/-. Exhibit G-1 to the reply filed to the Petition which is the order of the Accountant General dated 22nd January, 2008 specifies that the amount of death gratuity is Rs.1,25,550/-. 5. A succession certificate shall accordingly have to be issued to the Second Petitioner to the exclusion of the First Petitioner with the clarification that the Second Petitioner together with the mother, first wife and son of the deceased whose names have been set out in the earlier part of this judgment shall be entitled to equal share in the amounts realized from the estate of the deceased as reflected in the schedule of assets with the modification of the amount due in respect of the claim for gratuity and subject to the clarification that family pension will be payable to Smt. Lata (Ashwini). In the event that any further payments are received, they shall be distributed equally as between the aforesaid persons in the manner indicated herein above by the competent authority. The Petition is accordingly disposed of.