7-year wait for death' must: Hyderabad HC

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has made it clear that expiry of the full period of seven years is essential to presume dead a person (who is a government servant) who has gone missing and has remained untraceable for this period, under the Evidence Act, 1872.

A division bench comprising Justices V. Ramasubramanian and G. Shyam Prasad was dismissing a petition by Union of India challenging an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal directing it to pay pensionary benefits and the family pension together with all consequential benefits to one P. Sarojini, wife of a gestetner operator in the office of the assistant collector of Central Excise at Eluru, who has gone missing on October 7, 1992.

While taking into consideration various judgments of High Courts and Supreme Court in similar cases and a circular issued by the Union of India in such a case, the bench held that wife of the missing person was entitled to all pensionary benefits and directed the authorities to pay benefits to her within four weeks.

The bench noted that the circular issued by the Centre on March 3, 1989 was in regard to genuine cases of disappearance under normal circumstances and not cases in which officials disappear after committing frauds.

According to Ms Sarojini, she lodged a complaint on September 4, 1994 with the police who issued a FIR. The police filed a final report on December 6, 1997 declaring that her husband was not traceable.

On the basis of the said report, and after the expiry of seven years from the date her husband went missing, Ms Sarojini gave a representation dated on December 16, 1999 for sanction of family pension.

The authority concerned rejected her application informing her that her husband was removed from service on January 10, 1997 for unauthorised absence.

The bench, after perusing Section 108 of the Evidence Act, 1872 which deals with cases of persons remaining untraceable for over seven years, and various judgments in this regard, pointed out that “if the husband of first respondent (Sarojini) is presumed dead from the date he went missing, then the penalty of removal from service would have no effect as it was passed against a dead person”.

Meanwhile, a police officer of the city explained that police files a final report before the court after verifying bank transactions of the missing person and also if he had contacted any of his relatives or friends from date of his going missing.