VIMALA A.K Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is the wife of one Balakrishnan who was a crane operator in an establishment at Qatar. It is stated by the petitioner that Balakrishnan had fallen into the sea on 13.11.2008 in the course of his employment on crash of the crane in which he was working and his whereabouts are not known thereafter. The case of the petitioner is that since the husband of the petitioner has not been heard of for more than 7 years by those who would naturally have heard of him, if he had been alive, he shall be presumed to have been dead. It is also the case of the petitioner that she is, therefore, entitled to the death certificate as also the heir ship certificate of her husband. It is alleged that the aforesaid certificates are not being issued to the petitioner and as a result, the petitioner is not able to receive the various benefits due to her on account of the death of her husband from the employer of her husband and from other sources. The petitioner, therefore, seeks appropriate directions in this regard, in the writ petition.

(2.) A statement has been filed on behalf of the Consular Officer, Emabassy of India at Qatar and the Union of India, respondents 4 and 5 in the matter. The stand taken by respondents 4 and 5 in the statement is that Balakrishnan went missing on 13.11.2008 while working on a crane at an offshore site in Qatar and that the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar is that the forensic team which investigated the case reported that it was not possible to conclusively identify the body recovered as that of the deceased as the same was decomposed and some parts were missing. It is also the stand of the aforesaid respondents that death certificates are usually issued by the Embassy based on the report of the local authorities and that it was since there was no conclusive report by the local authorities in the case of Balakrishnan that the Embassy did not issue the death certificate.

(3.) Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned Government Pleader as also the learned Central Government Counsel.