Court Slams Officials For Stopping Woman's Pension Assuming She's Dead

The Madras High Court on Thursday lashed out at revenue department officials for stopping a woman's old age pension four years ago assuming she was dead, calling it a "reckless act".

The Madurai bench of the court directed the officials to disburse arrears with a compensation of Rs 50,000 for the anxiety and stress caused to the woman, who said she lived alone and had no relatives.

Justice R Suresh Kumar gave the direction on a petition by K Sundrammal of Kamuthi Taluk in Ramanathapuram district. She sought that her pension, which was stopped in July 2015 on the basis of "false" information that she was dead, be restored.

She was getting the pension from November 2006 till it was stopped in 2015.

The local tehsildar blamed a temporary computer operator for the deletion of the woman's name from the list of pension beneficiaries.

The court said the government officials had acted recklessly.

It directed the officials to resume payment of pension to the woman and settle the arrears with six per cent interest. It also asked them to submit a compliance report on July 24.