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Section 387: Effect of decisions under this Act, and liability of holder of certificate thereunder

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 386 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 388

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 387

Section 387 codifies the monumental principle that summary decisions under Part X do not operate as res judicata on questions of title, preserving the absolute right of any party to establish their substantive rights in a regular civil suit.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 387 is the defining provision governing the legal finality of succession certificates.
  • Bar on Subsequent Trial (Res Sub-Judice): It enacts that no decision under this Part upon any question of right between any parties shall be held to bar the trial of the same question in any suit between the same parties in any Court of ordinary original civil jurisdiction.

Furthermore, Section 387 explicitly declares that nothing in this Part shall be construed to affect the liability of any person to whom a certificate may be granted to account for the debts and securities received by him to the persons lawfully entitled thereto, or to bar any suit for the purpose of such an accounting.

Consequently, an order granting a succession certificate does not decide heirship or ownership of assets; it merely determines who shall collect the funds. The certificate holder is in law a bare trustee holding the collected money for the benefit of all the true legal heirs, who can sue him in a regular civil suit for partition, declaration, and accounts without being barred by res judicata.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Smt. Madhvi Amma Bhawani Amma v. Kunjikutty Pillai Meenakshi Pillai, (2000) 6 SCC 301: The Supreme Court delivered an authoritative landmark judgment on Section 387, holding that an adjudication under Part X is purely summary. It does not decide title, and findings rendered by the succession certificate court do NOT operate as res judicata in a subsequent regular title suit between the same parties.
  • Joginder Pal v. Indian Red Cross Society, (2000) 8 SCC 143: The Supreme Court affirmed that under Section 387, the holder of a certificate is merely a trustee bound to account to the true heirs. The decision in summary proceedings does not prevent the true heir from claiming their full share in a civil court.
Legal Commentary:

Section 387 is the most important section in the law of succession certificates. If an applicant loses a succession certificate contest before a Civil Judge, it is NOT the end of the road. Counsel should immediately invoke Section 387 and *Madhvi Amma*: the summary loss does not bar a regular civil suit for partition or declaration of title. The civil court will try the question of inheritance de novo on full evidence, completely uninfluenced by the summary succession certificate order.

Section 386 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 388