Drafted Bal Thackeray's will for free: advocate tells HC

The advocate who drafted late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's will on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that he had done it for free.

The advocate who drafted late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's will on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that he had done it for free.

Advocate Flanian D'souza was deposing before justice Gautam Patel in the testamentary suit filed by the Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray seeking probate of the will propounded by his deceased father.

Towards the end of his testimony, justice Patel sought to know from D'souza whether he had charged the late Thackeray for the work he did for him. "No," said the lawyer. "As regards the fee, the deceased would always ask me about the fees, but I always told him that I could not charge him," he added.

Earlier he had told the court that Thackeray's will had been updated or amended eight times between 1997 and 2011.

The will of former Shiv Sena supremo has become a subject of the legal battle between the siblings, as their father has purportedly bequeathed all his movable and immovable properties to Uddhav, and has left nothing for Jayadev and the family of Bindumadhav.

Jayadev has challenged the will, saying that his father was not of sound mind at the time of signing the will.

The Shivsena supremo has named four party leaders as executors of his will: Anil Parab, advocate Adik Shirodkar, architect Suresh Prabhu and his personal assistant, Ravindra Mhatre.

Uddhav and the four executors approached the high court by filing a testamentary petition, which has been converted into a suit after Jayadev sought to contest it claiming right over one third estate left behind by his deceased father.