IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
WP(C).No. 21894 of 2010(J)
1. K.VENIKITARAMAN,
... Petitioner
Vs
1. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,
... Respondent
2. THE TAHSILDAR, KANAYANNUR TALUK,
3. THE VILLAGE OFFICER,
For Petitioner :SRI.M.V.THAMBAN
For Respondent :GOVERNMENT PLEADER
The Hon'ble MR. Justice S.SIRI JAGAN
Dated :13/08/2010
O R D E R
S. SIRIJAGAN, J.
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W.P.(C) No.21894 of 2010
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Dated this the 13th day of August, 2010
J U D G M E N T
………………………
The petitioner is a 91 year old man. He had two
sisters namely Smt. Saraswathy and Smt. Subhalakshmy.
Both of them are no more. The 2nd sister Smt.
Subhalakshmi had no issues. She was married in 1940
and she was deserted by her husband in 1942. He was
not heard of after 1950. The petitioner claims to the only
the legal heir of his 2nd sister late Smt.Subhalakshmi who
died on 21.03.2007. She had an SB account with Union
Bank of India with S/B A/C.No.338602010018037 having a
balance of Rs.88,674/- as on 04.09.2007. In order to
disburse the amount to the legal heir, the Manager of the
Bank insisted on production of a legal heirship certificate.
The petitioner applied for legal heirship certificate in
September 2009. The 2nd respondent directed the
petitioner to file affidavit in respect of the relatives of the
W.P.(C) No.21894 of 2010 2
petitioner. Petitioner has submitted Exhibit P4 to P7.
Petitioner’s grievance in this writ petition is that despite
the same, the application is not being processed in
accordance with law.
2. A statement has been filed by the learned
Government Pleader, wherein the only contention is that
the petitioner has not intimated the 2nd respondent about
other relatives of Smt.Subhalakshmi.
3. I have heard the rival contentions in detail. The
petitioner has filed Exhibit P4 affidavit stating that the
petitioner is the only legal heir of Smt.Subhalakshmi
surviving now. He has also obtained Exhibit P6 and P7
affidavit from one Sri.V.Venkataraman and Smt.Ambika
Sivaraman, who are the son and daughter of
Smt.Saraswathy, relinquishing all their rights on the
properties of Subhalakshmi, in favour of the petitioner.
The procedure for issuing legal heirship certificate
includes publication of a notice inviting objections from
W.P.(C) No.21894 of 2010 3
interested persons. As such I do not think that any
further procedure is necessary to be completed by the
petitioner for processing the application for legal heriship
certificate.
Accordingly, this writ petition is disposed of with a
direction to the 2nd respondent to complete the
proceedings for issue of legal heirship certificate to the
petitioner and issue the same as expeditiously as possible,
at any rate, within two months from the date of receipt of
a copy of this judgment.
The writ petition is disposed of accordingly.
S.SIRIJAGAN,
JUDGE.
rkc