IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE TWENTY SECOND DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR WRIT PETITION NO : 24974 of 1998 Between: 1 Smt. Singam Yadamma @ Pushpa W/o. Late S. Sathaiah R/o. Laxmapur Village, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. 2 Master Singam Srikanth S/o. Late S. Sathaiah R/o. Laxmapur Village, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. Minors rep by their Mother & Natural Guardian Smt. Singam Yadam @ Pushpa, the Petitioner No.1. 3 Baby Singam Rajini D/o Late Sathaiah R/o. Laxmapur Village, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. Minors rep by their Mother & Natural Guardian Smt. Singam Yadam @ Pushpa, the Petitioner No.1. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The A.P State Road Transport Corporation Rep. by its Managing Director Musheerabad, R.T.C. 'X' Roads, Hyderabad. 2 The Regional Manager, A.P.S.R.T.C Jubilee Bus Station, Picket, Secunderabad. 3 The Depot Manager, A.P.S.R.T.C Hakimpet Depot Ranga Reddy District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue a direction in the nature of Writ of Mandamus directing the Respondents Nos.1 to 3 to settle the dues payable on account of death-cum-retirement/terminal beneﬁts in respect of late Sri S. Sathaiah, Driver, E.No. 97656, Hakimpet Depot, A.P.S.R.T.C., R.R.District and pay the said amounts to the petitioners herein as per the Succession Certiﬁcate granted in O.P.No. 957/96 dated 12-2-'97 by the Hon'ble District Judge,. R.R. District and pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the ends of justice. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.K.SANTHANAM Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.K.MADHAVA REDDY The Court made the following : Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SRAVAN} HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR W.P.No.24974 of 1998 O R D E R: This writ petition is ﬁled by widow and children of the deceased, S.Sathaiah, who worked with the respondents-Corporation. After his death on 08-12-1995, the petitioners were not paid death-cum-retirement/terminal beneﬁts. The 1st petitioner claimed that she addressed a letter dated 27-02-1996 to the respondent No.3 informing the death of her husband and requested for release of the terminal beneﬁts. It is further claimed that through the letter of the respondents-Corporation, dated 25-07-1996, the petitioners were required to obtain Succession Certiﬁcate and accordingly, she ﬁled O.P.No.957 of 1996, on the ﬁle of the learned District Judge, Ranga Reddy District, for the said Succession Certiﬁcate. The Succession Certiﬁcate was granted to the petitioners vide orders of the aforesaid Court, dated 12-02-1997 and thereby the petitioners are entitled to receive the total terminal beneﬁts which are quantiﬁed to Rs.1,63,402/-. The grievance of the petitioners is that in spite of obtaining said Succession Certiﬁcate and communicating the same to the respondents-Corporation, the amounts still remained unpaid. Prior to the ﬁling of the writ petition, the petitioners also issued a legal notice dated 22-10-1997 to the respondents-Corporation speciﬁcally informing about obtaining the Succession Certiﬁcate and ultimately on account of the inaction of the respondents-Corporation, the present writ petition is filed. 2. The respondents-Corporation ﬁled a counter aﬃdavit acknowledging the receipt of the Succession Certiﬁcate stating that at the time of petitioners claiming terminal beneﬁts, there was some confusion with respect to the nominees, and according to the respondents-Corporation, the name of the nominee was mentioned as Smt. S.Yadamma, but there was a photograph of Smt. Pushpa for the said nomination and on account of the same, the amounts remained unpaid. 3. I have heard the learned counsel on either side who have taken me through the records of the case. 4. One crucial fact, which cannot be disputed, is that the Succession Certiﬁcate, obtained by the petitioners and ﬁled before the respondents, clearly sets at rest entire controversy including the doubt entertained by the respondent-Corporation with regard to the entitlement of the petitioners. The said Succession Certiﬁcate speciﬁcally deals with the terminal beneﬁts payable to the deceased S.Sathaiah by quantifying the amount, which is the same as claimed in the present writ petition. After receipt of the said Succession Certificate, and at least after receiving the legal notice, dated 22-10-1997, there could not have been any doubt in the mind of the respondents- Corporation and hence, the inaction of the respondents-Corporation in not paying the said amount to the petitioners, cannot be countenanced. 5. The writ petition has been pending on the ﬁle of this Court from 1998 and the amounts have been lying with the respondents-Corporation and said amount is obviously being utilized by the respondents-Corporation. Therefore, the petitioners are rightly entitled to the said amount as per the Succession Certiﬁcate issued in their favour. Further, since they are being wrongly deprived of the said beneﬁt, the petitioners are also entitled to a reasonable rate of interest over the said amount. 6. It is represented by the learned Standing Counsel for the respondents- Corporation that the amount claimed by the petitioners comprises of Provident Fund as well as gratuity, and statutory interest will be accrued on those amounts. Thus, so far as the balance amount is concerned, the respondent-Corporation ought to pay interest over the said amount at the same rate, for the period from the date of legal notice i.e. 22-10- 1997 till the date of realization. 7. The Writ Petition is accordingly allowed, directing the respondents-Corporation to make payment of Rs.1,63,402/- (Rupees one lakh sixty three thousand four hundred and two only) towards terminal beneﬁts to the petitioners together with interest as aforesaid. No costs. ________________ 22-08-2008 kvr