PANAJI
Nearly nine months after recommendations to curb land grab cases, the State Cabinet approved an amendment to the Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding Act concerning the succession deeds and sub-registrars’ powers.
This amendment complies with one of several recommendations of (retd) Justice V K Jha Commission of Inquiry on land grab cases in Goa.
The ‘The Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ will be tabled in the Assembly for discussion and passing.
The amendment grants adjudicatory powers to special notaries, being sub-registrar, to collect additional information from the applicants or interested parties when recording the deeds of declaration of heirship. It also directs the special notaries to preserve the documents and application for office records, in compliance with the recommendations made on October 26, 2023.
The proposed Act, vetted by the Law Department, includes a consequential amendment to Section 361 in light of the enactment of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.
Details with The Goan indicate that interested parties must submit a written application to the Special Notary having jurisdiction over the place where the succession opens upon the death of the concerned estate leaver/deceased person as per section.
“It should clearly state the name and permanent residence of the deceased person/s, place of death of the deceased along with the residence and the time of death, (if known), the name – address and contact number of the interested party, the right in which the interested party claims heirship of the estate leaver/deceased person,” it stated.
The amendment also requires the names, addresses and contact numbers of all other legal heirs along with the family details or other relatives of the deceased person/s besides their residential address and contact numbers and reason for the execution of the deed of declaration of heirship.
The amendment also seeks that three persons or at least one of the interested parties have to declare on oath before the Special Notary that the interested party/parties named by them are the only heir or heirs of the deceased person.
“When all the interested parties are abroad, a constituted attorney with special powers may make the declaration…The deed of declaration of heirship shall be sufficient evidence for the purpose of mutation, transfer of shares, withdrawal of money from a bank or other financial institutions where the deposit does not exceed Rs 50,000. Provided that where there is only one heir there is no restriction on withdrawal of any amount from the deposit,” the amendment further states.
For the concerned officers, recording the deed should publish within 15 days an extract of the declaration giving full details of the deceased and the interested party/parties in gazette. The cost has to be borne by the interested party/parties.
