M DEVI Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD both sides. The petitioner is the wife of one M. V. Muthukumar, who was employed as a Grade I Constable in the Tamil Nadu Police force. The petitioner is married to Muthukumar on 3. 9. 97. Through their wedlock, two daughters were born to them on 7. 6. 1998 and 11. 7. 1999 respectively. At present, they are going to school.

(2.) IT is stated that her husband stopped visiting her and left the household from the year 1999 onwards. At that time, he was working in the Special Task Force and was posted in Marudam, Chennai-28. On 16. 11. 1999, the petitioner made a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police about her husband. Subsequently, she got certain payments from her husband. Thereafter, letters sent to her husband came returned that he was not found traceable. However, the respondents were insisting that he had been transferred to Coimbatore. The petitioner's attempt to contact him did not meet with success. Hence the petitioner filed an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tiruchirappalli, seeking maintenance. The Court ordered maintenance to be paid to her for a sum of Rs. 3500/- per month. Even that amount was not able to be recovered.

(3.) THEREAFTER, the petitioner invoked the Right To Information Act to know the whereabouts of her husband. Respondents were merely stating that her husband's whereabouts was not traceable. The petitioner sent a legal notice. But she received a communication from the third respondent that she should give necessary particulars for processing her pension papers. When the pension was not forthcoming, she filed the present writ petition, seeking for a direction to respondents to settle her claims on account of her husband's disappearance and also to pay widow pension from the date on which her husband was said to be missing.