Calcutta HC orders local post office to pay Rs 6,99,500 to kin of slain Army personnel
‘Post office does not only act as nation’s preferred carrier of words and emotions, but also as guardian of its savings’
A local post office in Burnpur has been ordered by the Calcutta High Court to pay Rs 6,99,500 to the kin of a slain Army personnel who was duped by an agent of the post office.
Justice Shekhar B Saraf further condemned the agent’s conduct and other officials responsible for the fraud. “Post office, in many cases, does not only act as the nation’s preferred carrier of words and emotions, but also serve as the guardian of its savings. It is the trust that has been built over decades that citizens place on their local post offices and it is the sacred duty of the postal department to forever and continuously uphold that trust,” Justice Saraf observed.
The writ petition was filed by the wife of an overseer at the Border Road Organisation, who was engaged in the “Construction of ‘Basoli Bani’ highway in the State of Jammu & Kashmir.” The petitioner’s husband had died in a bomb blast which had taken place on September 2, 2003.
The petitioners had received Rs 13,64,405. The petitioners decided to invest some of the amount received to the tune of Rs 7 lakh at the local Burnpur Post Office in MIS scheme as well as in fixed deposit. She was receiving monthly instalments till June 2012, but these payments were halted and eventually it was discovered that the MIS agent had committed fraud. The lawyer, representing the petitioner, submitted that serious fraud has been committed involving the retirement benefit, ex-gratia benefit and death benefit and authorities have failed to effectively resolve or take any steps for redressal of the petitioners’ grievance.
“This court directs the respondent no. 2 being the Chief Postmaster General to settle the claim of the petitioner to the tune of INR 6,99,500/- (Six lakhs ninety nine thousand five hundred only) along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum applicable from the date of deposit i.e. September 13, 2010 till the date of actual payment. Such payment is to be made within four weeks from the date of this order,” the Court ordered.
