SBI kept her NRI brother’s inheritance for 23 years, AP High Court says release it now

“It is also significant here to note that the bank did not bring to the notice of this court any adverse claim made inter se by the legatees or the wife and son of the executor of the Will to date, even after lapse of 23 long years since the date of death of the executor,” the court said on September 3.

The order noted that the man died in the year 2003. It continued that one of her sisters under the Will got her share released by producing the succession certificate obtained from the competent court by propounding the Will and getting it established by examining one of its attestors.

“The other legatees of the Will reported no objection, and the wife and son of the executor remained ex parte; further, one of the administrators of the Will addressed a letter to the bank for release of the share of the petitioner,” it said.

SBI refused to release inheritance

Sekharamantri Prameela, one of the four sisters of the late NRI man, approached the high court seeking release of her share in his FCNR deposits and other investments. The man had executed a Will in 1995 bequeathing two-thirds of his assets to his son and the remaining one-third equally among his four sisters.

Justice Ravi Cheemalapati said that the Will executed by the late man had already been proved in proceedings initiated by one of the other sisters.

One sister obtained a succession certificate and received her Rs 19 lakh share in 2007. However, when the woman and her other sisters approached SBI, the bank refused to release their shares, insisting on another succession certificate or probate. The woman’s own attempt to obtain a succession certificate was rejected by SBI because the assets were covered by a Will.

She subsequently approached the consumer forum and banking ombudsman, but both declined to grant relief, leading her to file the petition in the high court.

Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Sarang Afzulpurkar argued that the bank, having had the succession certificate obtained by one of the legatees of the Will, ought to have released the petitioner’s share of the amount of the petitioner lying in FCNR deposits.

He further contended that, despite numerous representations by the petitioner and the legatees of the Will and the written intimation from one of the designated executors of the Will, the bank did not release the amount, in utter violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

On the other hand, K B Ramanna Dora, counsel for the SBI, justified the bank’s action of withholding the amount for want of production of the succession certificate or probate order of the Will.

Woman’s share to be released: Order

The court noted that the Will executed by the late man had already been proved in proceedings initiated by one of the other sisters, with an attesting witness examined before the competent court.

It observed that the Indian Succession Act, 1925 prohibits issuance of a succession certificate where the right to the debt or security is required to be established through probate or letters of administration.

The court noted that earlier, in some parts of India, a person had to get a Will officially approved by a court (called “probate”) before using it to claim property or money under that Will. However, Parliament removed this requirement in 2025.

It added that Andhra Pradesh was different even before this change. Probate was not compulsory there, so a person did not necessarily have to get a court’s probate order to claim assets under a valid Will.
The court underscored that, in this case, it meant: The bank could not insist that the woman obtain probate merely because she was claiming her share under her brother’s Will.

Considering the petitioner’s age, the absence of any active dispute over the Will and the peculiar circumstances, the court directed SBI to release her entitled share upon obtaining an indemnity bond.