Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has moved an application in the Bombay High Court seeking in-camera trial of his petition seeking validity of the will of deceased Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray. The will has been challenged by Mr. Uddhav's elder brother Jaidev Thackeray.
The court is likely to decide on the application on November 10. It will also fix the date from which the trial in the matter will commence. Till now, the court has framed issues in the matter.
On Monday, Justice Gautam Patel admitted some of the documents from a docket of 77 documents submitted by Jaidev Thackeray and 23 documents submitted by Uddhav Thackeray. The court also retained the original copy of Bal Thackeray's will while returning the rest of the original documents to Mr. Uddhav.
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The court questioned the relevance of some documents submitted by Mr. Jaidev to the court. "What is the relevance of PAN Card, ration card, passport, I-T (Income Tax returns) for the probate proceedings?" Justice Patel asked.
Mr. Jaidev's lawyer submitted that these documents were submitted to prove that he was the biological son of Mr. Bal Thackeray and was staying with him at the relevant period. To this, the judge responded by saying that it was never challenged in the first place.
While going through a list of documents submitted by Mr. Jaidev, the court said that many of them had been admitted by Mr. Uddhav as correct. "I (High Court) admit them further to the proof of correctness and subject to relevance being established at the time of trial," Justice Patel said.
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Uddhav Thackeray had moved the Bombay High Court last year seeking to probate the will of Balasaheb Thackeray. But his elder brother Jaidev Thackeray had challenged it, raising questions on the veracity of the will. He had also alleged that the property owned by Mr. Bal Thackeray run into several more crores of rupees than the valuation given in the will.
According to the will, Mr. Jaidev will not inherit anything owned by Mr. Bal Thackeray. During the hearing, Mr. Jaidev had sought interim protection of the willed property on the grounds that Uddhav might misuse his influence to transfer or alienate the property mentioned in Mr. Bal Thackeray's will.
The court had refused to grant the interim relief to him. It had later framed issues in the matter for both the parties to file their replies.