IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
WA.No. 2442 of 2009()
1. STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY
... Petitioner
Vs
1. DEVIKA ASOKAN,
... Respondent
2. UNION OF INDIA, REPRESENTED BY
For Petitioner :GOVERNMENT PLEADER
For Respondent : No Appearance
The Hon'ble the Chief Justice MR.S.R.BANNURMATH
The Hon'ble MR. Justice A.K.BASHEER
Dated :06/11/2009
O R D E R
S.R.Bannurmath, C.J. & A.K. Basheer, J.
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W.A. No.2442 of 2009
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Dated this the 6th day of November, 2009
JUDGMENT
S.R.Bannurmath, C.J.
Aggrieved by the impugned judgment of the learned
Single Judge dated 4th June, 2009 in W.P.(C) No.7313 of 2004,
especially the direction issued to the District Collector to make
payment of the compensation with interest at the rate of 12% per
annum personally, the first respondent in the writ petition has filed
the present writ appeal.
2. The writ petitioner claims to be the wife of the
deceased Asokan who was murdered in Middle East, and in this
regard eligible compensation was paid by the Insurance Company
for the death of her husband. This amount was received by the
Consulate General of India to the tune of Rs.45145/- which is
stated to be forwarded to the District Collector,
Thiruvananthapuram for payment to the legal heirs of the
deceased.
3. According to the writ petitioner, she and her children
are the only legal heirs of the deceased, and alleging that inspite
of having received the money, the District Collector has not taken
any steps to trace the legal heirs and release the amount for the
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last five years, she approached this Court and sought for
appropriate direction.
4. The learned Single Judge accepting the bare
contention of the writ petitioner that, the compensation amount
was deposited with the District Collector and there was inaction on
the part of the District Collector in disbursing the same to the legal
heir, without even the District Collector being a party and without
hearing him, proceeded to hold that the District Collector was
negligent in not taking steps and as such directed the Government
to pay the compensation with 12% interest with further direction
that the Government to recover the interest from him personally. It
is this direction in the impugned judgment which is challenged
before us.
5. In our view, in the absence of any prima facie
material as to whether the writ petitioner is the only legal heir of
the deceased Asokan and especially in the absence of the District
Collector being a party to the proceedings, and without affording
him any opportunity, the learned Single Judge has erroneously
held that there is default on the part of the District Collector in
disbursing of the compensation and as such liable to pay penal
interest.
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6. It is to be noted that there is nothing on record to
show that the writ petitioner has ever approached the District
Collector and on the other hand, as is contended by the appellant,
after receiving the amount, the District Collector had made
enquiries and as nobody approached him, he could not disburse
the compensation. It is also not much in dispute that only after the
impugned judgment, the writ petitioner has applied for the legal
heirship which indicates that even at the time of approaching this
Court, no steps have been taken by her to establish that she is
the only legal heir, nor approached the District Collector for that
purpose.
7. In that view of the matter, especially when the
District Collector was not a party to the writ petition and he was not
given any opportunity, we find that the impugned order of the
learned Single Judge saddling him with liability to pay interest at
the rate of 12% per annum appears to be unjustified. Accordingly
that portion of the judgment is set aside and it is directed that the
amount in deposit shall be disbursed by the District Collector to
the legal heir of the deceased Asokan on production of
substantive material to prove the legal heirship and also after
holding a detailed enquiry in this regard, to the appropriate legal
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heir. The District Collector is also directed to complete the enquiry
within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this
judgment and disburse the amount as directed above without any
interest.
The writ appeal is allowed. The impugned judgment of
the learned Single Judge stands modified to the above extent.
S.R.Bannurmath,
Chief Justice
A.K. Basheer,
Judge
vns/vku.