The Court was dealing with a writ petition filed by the wife of an overseer in the Border Road Organization who was engaged in the “construction of ‘Basoli Bani’ highway in Jammu & Kashmir. The petitioner’s husband died in a bomb blast in September 2003.
The petitioner later received nearly ₹13 lakh as compensation under various schemes from the State and Central governments. From this amount, about ₹7 lakh was invested by the petitioner in a post office MIS and a fixed deposit in 2010. She received monthly installments until June 2012.
However, after these installment payments were halted, she eventually discovered that the MIS agent had committed fraud and diverted the investment fund. Requests for a refund of ₹ 4.99 lakh from the post office was met with no response, prompting the petitioner to approach the High Court for relief.
Before the High Court, the postal authorities claimed that the MIS agent was employed by the West Bengal government. Hence, the post office contended that it was not liable for the fraud committed.
Source: Barandbench
