Mst. QAMAR SULTANA vs PUBLIC AT LARGE

1. This is a petition under section 372 of the Succession Act, 1925, hereinafter referred to as the `Act', in respect of the debts/securities left behind by deceased Abdul Mutalib s/o Mian Noor Ahmed, who expired at Karachi on 3--8-1987 leaving behind next-of-kins mentioned in para 4 of the petition i.e. The widow, i.e. The petitioner, three daughters, three brothers and three sisters. A public notice of the above petition has been published in the daily Urdu Newspaper "Mashriq" dated 6-12-1988 and a copy of the notice was pasted on the Court notice board. In response to the above public notice no one has filed any objection. On the other hand all the next-of-kins have filed their affidavits recording their no objection alongwith the photostat copies of the identity cards. On the last date of hearing when the above matter had come up before me I had noticed that the affidavits sworn by the next-of-kins were sworn outside the province of Sind on plain papers. I asked the learned counsel for the petitioner to satisfy me on the question that the above affidavits were in order and were not required to have been executed on non-judicial stamp paper. Mr. Feroze Khan Advocate in support of his contention that the above affidavits are in order and do not require any stamp has referred to a Full Bench case of the Allahabad High Court in the case of Siri Kishan Das & another v.

2. Muhammad Nazir and another reported in AIR 1947 All. 37, in which it was held that affidavits sworn in Bombay with the caption "immediate" and used in Meerut Court were exempted from payment of stamp duty. The above view was followed by a learned Single Judge of erstwhile Sind Chief Court in the case of Begum Zubeda Khatoon reported in PLD 1955 Sind 33. The above legal position seems to be correct. Since no one has filed objection to the above petition and as all the legal heirs have filed their affidavits alongwith photostat copies of their identity cards recording their no objection I would allow the petition subject to the rules.