Absolute bequest and statutory succession rules govern talukdari estates; amended Oudh law overrides inconsistent sanad terms.

A talukdar's will is treated as passing the whole interest to widows where it contains no language restricting the gift to a life estate, so the bequests are not cut down on that basis. The discussion also notes that a testamentary gift to heirs under Sunni Hanafi law can be supported by heir consent, and that consent cured the objection raised here. On Oudh talukdari succession, the amended Estates Act prevails over inconsistent sanad terms, so succession is determined under the statutory scheme rather than the original sanad. A claimant tracing descent through a female does not qualify as a male agnate under that scheme.

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Issues: (i) Whether the bequests in favour of the widows under the will conferred absolute estates and were valid notwithstanding the rule against testamentary gifts to heirs under Sunni Hanafi law. (ii) Whether succession to the talukdari estate after the widow's death was governed by the sanad or by the amended provisions of the Oudh Estates Act, and whether the claimant tracing descent through a female could succeed as a male agnate.

Issue (i): Whether the bequests in favour of the widows under the will conferred absolute estates and were valid notwithstanding the rule against testamentary gifts to heirs under Sunni Hanafi law.

Analysis: The will made an unconditional bequest of the property to the widows and daughter without language limiting the interest to a life estate. Under the statutory rule applicable to wills of taluqdars, a bequest passes the whole interest unless the will itself shows an intention to confine it to a lesser estate. Although a testamentary gift to heirs is ordinarily invalid under Hanafi law, that defect is cured by the consent of the heirs, and the concurrent findings established both that the relevant heirs consented and that the widows and surviving daughter were heirs in that sense. The objection based on the junior widow's position also failed because the statutory test was satisfied on the authority binding on the Board.

Conclusion: The bequests to the widows were valid and conferred absolute estates on them, and the challenge to recover those properties failed.

Issue (ii): Whether succession to the talukdari estate after the widow's death was governed by the sanad or by the amended provisions of the Oudh Estates Act, and whether the claimant tracing descent through a female could succeed as a male agnate.

Analysis: The amended statutory scheme superseded the inconsistent succession terms of the sanad. The proper inquiry was therefore not under the sanad but under the amended section governing descent of such estates, which restricted the preference to the nearest male agnate according to the rule of lineal primogeniture, while leaving other heirs to be determined under the ordinary personal law. On that construction, a person who traced descent through a female did not qualify as a male agnate. The explanation added to the Act did not revive the superseded sanad conditions relating to succession.

Conclusion: Succession was governed by the amended statutory provisions, not by the sanad, and the claimant tracing through a female could not succeed as a male agnate.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were substantially unsuccessful, with only limited variation in favour of one respondent's share. The decision confirms that the testamentary gifts to the widows stood as absolute estates and that the statutory rules governing Oudh talukdari succession displaced inconsistent sanad terms.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a will of a talukdar contains no restriction on the interest bequeathed, the beneficiary takes the whole interest; and in Oudh talukdari succession, amended statutory provisions override inconsistent sanad conditions, confining the preference to male agnates under lineal primogeniture.

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