Nominee under banking law has only a right to receive deposit, not ownership against legal heirs.

Section 45ZA(2) of the Banking Regulation Act confers on a nominee only the right to receive the bank deposit on the depositor's death and to hold it for that limited purpose. The provision does not govern succession, so the amount received by the nominee remains part of the deceased depositor's estate and devolves under the applicable succession law. The same interpretation is supported by the similar nominee provision in the Government Savings Certificate Act, 1959. A nominee therefore does not become the owner of the deposit and cannot exclude the legal heirs from asserting succession rights.

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Issues: Whether a nominee under Section 45ZA(2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, becomes the owner of the deposit to the exclusion of the deceased depositor's legal heirs, or only acquires the right to receive the amount and hold it subject to succession.

Analysis: Section 45ZA(2) gives the nominee the right to receive the deposit on the death of the depositor and places the nominee in the depositor's shoes for that limited purpose. The provision is part of banking law and does not deal with succession. The money received by the nominee does not cease to form part of the deceased depositor's estate and must devolve according to the applicable rule of succession. The reasoning is reinforced by the materially similar provision in Section 6(1) of the Government Saving Certificate Act, 1959.

Conclusion: The nominee is not the owner of the bank deposit and cannot exclude the other legal heirs from claiming succession rights. The claim of exclusive ownership was rejected.

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