(1) If the District Judge is satisfied that there is ground for entertaining the application, he shall fix a day for the hearing thereof and cause notice of the application and of the day fixed for the hearing-
(a) to be served on any person to whom, in the opinion of the Judge, special notice of the application should be given, and
(b) to be posted on some conspicuous part of the court-house and published in such other manner, if any, as the Judge, subject to any rules made by the High Court in this behalf, thinks fit, and upon the day fixed, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, shall proceed to decide in a summary manner the right to the certificate.
(2) When the Judge decides the right thereto to belong to the applicant, the Judge shall make an order for the grant of the certificate to him.
(3) If the Judge cannot decide the right to the certificate without determining questions of law or fact which seem to be too intricate and difficult for determination in a summary proceeding, he may nevertheless grant a certificate to the applicant if he appears to be the person having prima facie the best title thereto.
(4) When there are more applicants than one for a certificate, and it appears to the Judge that more than one of such applicants are interested in the estate of the deceased, the Judge may, in deciding to whom the certificate is to be granted, have regard to the extent of interest and the fitness in other respects of the applicants.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 373
Section 373 governs the judicial procedure on an application for a succession certificate, mandating public notice, service upon near relatives, and a summary inquiry to determine prima facie entitlement.
Under sub-section (2), when the application is heard, the District Judge proceeds in a summary manner to decide the right to the certificate. Under sub-section (3), if the Judge cannot determine the right without deciding complex questions of law or fact which are too intricate for a summary proceeding, he may nonetheless grant a certificate to the applicant if the applicant appears to have the prima facie best title thereto.
Crucially, the inquiry under Section 373 is purely summary: the court does not decide final substantive rights or title between competing heirs. It merely appoints an authorized collector to receive the debts and give a valid discharge.
Section 373 is an expeditious summary remedy. When opposing parties attempt to transform a Section 373 hearing into a full-scale 10-year civil trial by demanding lengthy oral evidence and interrogatories, counsel should cite *Madhvi Amma*: the inquiry is summary; the judge is bound to grant the certificate to the prima facie best-entitled heir upon security, leaving complex questions of title to be resolved in a regular civil suit.