CHENNAI:
The Madras
Justice S
Tamilvanan, underscoring the importance of a Registered Post in litigation and
other matters, said that when people pay a fee and affix sufficient postal
stamp, the Postal Authorities or Postmen must discharge their duties in a
responsible manner. The postman should make it clear as to whether the
registered letter was served on the addressee or refused by the addressee or no
addressee was found in the given address, the judge said.
Passing orders
on a matrimonial litigation, wherein a Chennai-based woman wanted her divorce
proceedings to be transferred from Puducherry Court to Chennai Court, the Judge said the woman's notice sent by registered post had been returned
undelivered with a simple endorsement "unclaimed." Slamming the practice, Justice Tamilvanan said the Court was of the view that the reason for the non-delivery of the
notice had not been properly explained to the person who sent it.
"The
endorsement 'not claimed' is required to be made in a responsible manner by the
postman or the official of the Postal Department, so as to convey proper reason
and to bring out the fact as to under what circumstances the registered letter
could not be served on the addressee by the postman," the Judge said.
In case the
registered letter is delivered to a person other than the addressee, the
postman must obtain clear endorsement and explain the relationship of the
signatory who received the letter on behalf of the addressee, Justice
Tamilvanan said.
Return of
registered letters with a comment "unclaimed" or with some other
improper endorsement would cause inconvenience to the general public and the person seeking justice through Court of Law, the Judge said, adding: "Service of notice by registered
post plays a vital role in deciding several cases."
He then
directed the Chief Post Master General of Tamil Nadu to give
suitable instructions to all Postal Department officials to follow the
guidelines laid down by the court in this case.
Source :The
Times of India
