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Section 189: When testator's representatives may call upon legatee to elect

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 188 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 190

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 189

Section 189 empowers the testator's representatives to call upon a legatee to elect within a specified period of one year, failing which he is deemed to have elected to take under the will.

  • Requisition by Representatives: If the legatee does not elect within one year after the testator's death, the testator's legal representatives may call upon him by formal notice to make his election.
  • Statutory Deemed Election: If the legatee does not elect within a reasonable time after such requisition, he is deemed to have elected to confirm the will and take under the will.
  • Closure of Estate Uncertainty: Enables executors to eliminate administrative deadlock and proceed with estate distribution.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • C. Beepathuma v. Velasari Shankaranarayana Kadambolithaya (1964) 5 SCR 836: The Supreme Court recognized that statutory requisition mechanisms like Section 189 ensure that estate administration is not held hostage to indefinite indecision by beneficiaries.
  • Cooper v. Cooper (1874) LR 7 HL 53: Affirmed that executors possess equitable authority to put beneficiaries to formal election within a reasonable timeframe.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Executors facing a recalcitrant heir who refuses to declare whether he accepts his legacy or retains his own property should serve a formal 30-day legal notice under Section 189 after the 1-year mark; failure to reply constitutes a statutory deemed election.

Section 188 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 190