Bombay High Court Upholds Will Excluding Wife and Sons, Rules Physical Illness Doesn't Negate Mental Capacity

The Bombay High Court has upheld a 2004 Will in which a man with advanced prostate cancer bequeathed his estate to his nephew, excluding his wife and two sons. Justice Arif Doctor ruled that physical illness alone does not establish lack of mental capacity to execute a Will.

Gulab Hukumatrai Gurbani, who died in April 2005, left his estate to his nephew Rajkumar Assudomal Gurbani as sole executor and beneficiary. The deceased's sons challenged the Will, alleging forged signatures and questioning their father's testamentary capacity given his paralysis and chemotherapy treatment.

The court found the testimony of two attesting witnesses—the deceased's long-time physician and a family acquaintance—convincing. Both testified that Gurbani understood the Will's contents and signed it voluntarily. The court held their evidence satisfied legal requirements under the Indian Succession Act and Evidence Act, rejecting the sons' challenge.