Postal Manual Vol. VIII - India Post

the amount of the Government Securities plus any interest that may have accrued on that amount
until the end of the month preceding that in which orders of payment are issued, and that the other
person will be entitled to the amount of the Government Securities plus any interest that may have
accrued on them after the death of the depositor.
(7) If any depositor becomes insane or otherwise incapable of managing his affairs, the
Head of the Circle should be guided by rule 39 of the Rules for Depositors in issuing orders for
payment from his account.
NOTE 1- If a minor is entitled to money at credit of a deceased depositor’s account, the
amount is payable only to the minor’s guardian.
NOTE 2- The payment of balances standing at the credit of accounts of deceased officers
and soldiers of the British Army and sepoys, is governed by rules 504 and 505 of the Posts and
Telegraphs Manual, Volume VI.
NOTE 3.- A bond of indemnity (see paragraph (4) of this rule) must be stamped but need not
be registered, the stamp being provided by the person who executes the bond.
NOTE 4.- The fact that it would be troublesome or inconvenient to the claimant to obtain
legal evidence or that he would be put to the inconvenience and expense of a journey in order to
procure it, is held not to constitute in itself hardship of the kind contemplated by rule 38 of the
Rules for Depositors and recommendations should not, therefore, be made to the Director-General
for the exercise of the discretionary power vested in him by that rule on this ground alone.
In case of Government securities are concerned, a certificate granted to an applicant by the
District Magistrate in accordance with the proviso to section 12 of the Indian Securities Act, 1920,
in the following form will be sufficient evidence of the claim of the application :-
“Certified that ………………………… (the depositor’s name) the deceased holder of
Government Promissory Notes Nos. ………………….. of the …………………..loan for Rs.
…………….., who died intestate, belonged to a Hindu undivided family governed by the
Mitakshara Law, that the Government promissory notes formed part of the joint family, property
of the family and, that …………………… (the applicant) is the managing (or sole surviving) male
member of the family and the deceased holder had left him surviving no female relative specified
in class I of the Schedule to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 or a male relative specified in that
class who claims through such female relative.”
EXCEPTION – When the amount due on the cash certificate exceeds Rs. 5,000, or in the case
of Post Office Savings Bank, the balance at credit on the date of depositor’s death (inclusive of
interest up to the date of depositor’s death) exceeds Rs. 5,000, or in the case of Government
Securities held in the custody of the Accountant-General, Posts and Telegraphs, if the amount is in
excess of Rs. 5,000 and the claim is based on survivorship the claimant should be asked to produce
a District Magistrate’s certificate on the above lines or failing this, a declaration on the lines of the
above certificate affirmed before Magistrate and an affidavit from some independent disinterested
person affirming before a Magistrate the facts stated in the declaration. In all such cases sanction
to the payment of the amount may be issued by the Heads of Circles without reference to the
Director-General.
NOTE 5. – Heads of Circles have discretionary power to authorise the closure of savings
bank accounts belonging to deceased depositors without production of the pass-book in all cases in
which they are competent to issue payment orders under rule 37 of the Rules for Depositors.