HC confirms legal heirship of Ayyappan

CHENNAI: The first division bench of Madras High Court confirmed the order of a single judge rejecting a petition filed by AC Muthaiah to invalidate a legal heirship certificate issued to MAMR Muthaiah aka Ayyappan, an adopted son of deceased industrialist MAM Ramasamy.

Heading the first bench along with Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, Acting Chief Justice T Raja passed the orders on the ground that a third party cannot challenge the personal right of an individual to adopt a person as his son.

Representing Ayyappan, senior counsel MS Krishnan submitted that the appellant has filed this appeal petition in the name of Chettinad Charitable Trust and it should be noted that a trust cannot challenge the adoption and legal heir certificate issued to his client.

Recording the submissions, the judges dismissed the appeal preferred by AC Muthiah, managing trustee of MAM Ramaswamy Chettiar’s Chettinad Charitable Trust.

The petitioner challenged the Mylapore Tahslidar’s decision to issue a legal heir certificate to Ayyappan declaring that he was an heir of MAM Ramasamy Chettiar.

According to AC Muthiah, Ayyappan, who is possessing the legal heirship, was not loyal to MAM Ramaswamy during his lifetime. He further noted that the act of the respondent was not in accordance with the customs followed by the Nagarathar community for adopting a son.

However, the respondent noted that he submitted proper material evidence and obtained the certificate.