Explanation:

Suresh vs. Bhagat Ram - There is no dispute to the proposition that the essential characteristics of a Will are:

1. There must be a legal declaration;

2. That declaration must be with respect to the property of the testator; and

3. The declaration must be to the effect that it is to operate after the death of the testator, that is, it should be revocable during the life of the testator.

5. There is again no dispute to the proposition that the Will shall be attested by two or more witnesses, each of whom has seen the testator sign or affix his mark to the Will or has seen some other person sign the will, in the presence and by the direction of the testator or has received from the testator a personal acknowledgment of his signature or mark, or of the signature of such other person ; and each of the witnesses shall sign the will in the presence of the testator, but it shall not be necessary that more than one witness be present at the same time, and no particular form of attestation shall be necessary. Apart from this, the testator is also to sign or affix his mark to the Will, or it shall be signed by some other person in the presence of testator and by his direction. These are the mandatory provisions required to be complied with under Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act.

6. Again it is not being disputed that a testator has got every right to revoke or alter the will executed by him at any time when he is competent to dispose of his property by Will. In case the testator selects to behave in that manner the later Will, in case executed in accordance with the provisions of law, shall have precedence over the earlier Will which shall automatically stand cancelled.

At this stage Section 2(b) of the Indian Succession Act, which defines 'codicil', can safely be referred, which runs as under:

2(b) 'codicil' means an instrument made in relation to a will, and explaining, altering or adding to its dispositions, and shall be deemed to form part of the will.

7. Generally the same principles are applied by courts in construing a codicil as in the case of a Will. The effect of confirming a will by a codicil is to bring the will down to the date of codicil and to effect the same disposition of the testator's property as would have been if the testator had as the date of the codicil made a new will containing the same disposition as the original will had with the alterations introduced by the codicil. Its effect is republication of the will and to make a devise in the will operative in the same way in which it would have been operative if the words were contained in the codicil Thus, a codicil duly executed gives effect and operation to unattested Alteration in a will. A defective bequest in a will may stand cured by a codicil.

8. Thus, a codicil which substitutes the earlier Will has to be proved in the same manner as is the mandatory requirement for proving the Will.

Bhagat Ram and Anr v. Suresh and Ors