Limited scope of succession certificate proceedings bars routine DNA testing to dispute paternity and heirship.

In succession certificate proceedings, the court's inquiry is limited to facilitating collection of debts and does not finally determine title to the estate. The note states that a DNA test should not be ordered routinely to decide paternity or heirship, because the statutory presumption of legitimacy under Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 can be displaced only by cogent proof of non-access through admissible evidence. A court should not ordinarily create evidence by directing DNA testing in such proceedings. The cited direction for DNA testing was therefore unsustainable and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether, in proceedings for grant of a succession certificate, the court can direct a DNA test to determine paternity and thereby create evidence for deciding the heirship dispute.

Analysis: The scope of inquiry in succession certificate proceedings is limited, and the proceeding is intended to facilitate collection of debts without finally determining title to the estate. The presumption under Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 is a strong rebuttable presumption, and legitimacy can be displaced only by proof of non-access. A DNA test is scientifically accurate, but it is not to be ordered as a matter of routine or as a means of roving inquiry. The party disputing paternity must establish its case through admissible evidence, and the court cannot ordinarily create evidence by directing a DNA test in such a proceeding.

Conclusion: The direction for DNA testing was unsustainable and was rightly set aside; the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: In succession certificate proceedings, a DNA test cannot be directed as a matter of course to decide paternity, and the statutory presumption of legitimacy under Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 can be displaced only by cogent proof of non-access, not by judicially created evidence.

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