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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.
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CHENNAI: The Madras high
court has frowned on mechanical return of registered letters as
"unclaimed" by postmen, and said that in case they could not be
delivered, proper reasons must be given.
Justice S Tamilvanan, underscoring
the importance of a registered post in litigations 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 a Puducherry court to a 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
