KUSUM KUWAR Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IT is claimed by the petitioner that the wife of the deceased Government employee died sometimes in 1985 and thereupon in 1985 itseif the deceased Government employee married the petitioner. The petitioner is contending that during the lifetime of the deceased Government employee he represented to the employer that after the death of his first wife, he has married the petitioner, and accordingly the petitioner should be substituted as his nominee in place of his deceased wife. The original of this letter has been produced in Court which contains seal of the employer but that seal does not contain the date of receipt of this letter.

(2.) BE that as it may, the son and the daughter of the deceased, begotten through the marriage solemnized in between the deceased and his deceased wife, are disputing any relationship of husband and wife in between the petitioner and their father. As a result, the petitioner has approached the Civil Court seeking a declaration that she is the duly married wife of the deceased Government employee. The suit is pending and has not yet been decreed, as a result the status of the petitioner as wife of the deceased Government employee has not yet been settled by the forum chosen by the petitioner.

(3.) A nominee discharges a third party from him obligation to meet the credit held by him for the benefit of the deceased. A succession certificate also serves the self same purpose. When, therefore, the deceased employee has died without a nominee, a third party debtor cannot discharge the debt unless a succession certificate is produced. Therefore, in order to have all other terminal dues, as a nominee the petitioner in the absence of an accepted nomination in law, is required to obtain a succession certificate.