If the deceased has died intestate and was not a person belonging to any of the classes referred to in section 218, those who are connected with him, either by marriage or by consanguinity, are entitled to obtain letters of administration of his estate and effects in the order and according to the rules hereinafter stated, namely:-
(a) If the deceased has left a widow, administration shall be granted to the widow, unless the Court sees cause to exclude her, either on the ground of some personal disqualification, or because she has no interest in the estate of the deceased.
Illustrations:
(i) The widow is a lunatic or has committed adultery or has been barred by her marriage settlement of all interest in her husband's estate. There is cause for excluding her from the administration.
(ii) The widow has married again since the decease of her husband. This is not good cause for her exclusion.
(b) If the Judge thinks proper, he may associate any person or persons with the widow in the administration who would be entitled solely to the administration if there were no widow.
(c) If there is no widow, or if the Court sees cause to exclude the widow, it shall commit the administration to the person or persons who would be beneficially entitled to the estate according to the rules for the distribution of an intestate's estate:
Provided that: when the mother of the deceased is one of the class of persons so entitled, she shall be solely entitled to administration.
(d) Those who stand in -equal degree of kindred to the deceased are equally entitled to administration.
(e) The husband surviving his wife has the same right of administration of her estate as the widow has in respect of the estate of her husband.
(f) When there is no person connected with the deceased by marriage or consanguinity who is entitled to letters of administration and willing to act, they may be granted to a creditor.
(g) Where the deceased has left property in 1 [India], letters of administration shall be granted according to the foregoing rules, notwithstanding that he had his domicile in a country in which the law relating to testate and intestate succession differs from the law of 1[India].
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 219
Section 219 prescribes the priority and entitlement rules for the grant of Letters of Administration where the deceased was not a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, or Jaina.
In applying for letters of administration under Section 219 for an Indian Christian or Parsi estate, the applicant must file a verified genealogy chart establishing that closer statutory relatives either consented, renounced, or predeceased the intestate.