For the purpose of determining questions as to what person or what property is denoted by any words used in a will, a Court shall inquire into every material fact relating to the persons who claim to be interested under such will, the property which is claimed as the subject of disposition, the circumstances of the testator and of his family, and into every fact a knowledge of which may conduce to the right application of the words which the testator has used.
Illustrations:
(i) A, by his will, bequeaths 1,000 rupees to his eldest son or to his youngest grandchild, or to his cousin, Mary. A Court may make inquiry in order to ascertain to what person the description in the will applies.
(ii) A, by his will, leaves to B "my estate called Black Acre". It may be necessary to take evidence in order to ascertain what is the subject-matter of the bequest; that is to say, what estate of thetestator's is called Black Acre.
(iii) A, by his will, leaves to B "the estate which I purchased of C". It may be necessary to take evidence in order to ascertain what estate the testator purchased of C.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 75
Section 75 codifies the celebrated 'armchair rule', allowing courts to inquire into every material fact relating to the testator's family, property, and surrounding circumstances to ascertain the object or subject of a will.
This provision codifies the famous common law canon known as the 'armchair principle': the judicial interpreter is entitled to sit in the testator's armchair, view the testator's world through their eyes, and ascertain what meaning the words bore to a person situated in the testator's exact domestic, financial, and emotional position at the date of the testament.
Section 75 is the primary gateway for introducing contextual evidence in will construction suits. While direct oral evidence of what the testator intended to write is generally barred under Section 81, Section 75 permits exhaustive evidence regarding objective surrounding facts: the size of the family, financial dependency of beneficiaries, history of disputes, and physical nature of properties. Litigators must use Section 75 to build the factual matrix that justifies their proposed construction.