Postal Manual Vol. VIII - India Post

accordance with the procedure for the transfer of postal certificates from the name of one holder to
another.
NOTE – The Head of the circle should advise the Audit Office when the applicant’s title is
admitted and in the case of the loss, theft or destruction of a certificate being ascertained at the
time the applicant enters his claim, or when it occurs in the interval between his application and
recognition of his title, he should be required to proceed in the same manner to obtain a declaration
as if the holder was alive and it had been lost, stolen or destroyed while in his custody.
The Audit Office in issuing the declaration will add thereto the following :-
______________ (name of applicant) has been recognised as the present holder of this declaration.
67. Articles addressed to deceased persons. – (1) Under section 38 of the Indian Post
Office Act, an article received in the Returned Letter Office as undelivered to the addressee must
be returned to the sender if his name and address are known or can be ascertained, and, therefore,
no application from, or on behalf of, the representatives of the deceased addressee for the delivery
of such an article to them, after it has reached the Returned Letter Office, can be entertained.
(2) If an application is received from the sender for the delivery to him of an article that is
lying in deposit at a post office as “unclaimed” because of the death of the addressee and which in
the ordinary course would be returned to the sender through the Returned Letter Office the claim
should ordinarily be admitted in preference to any claim that may have been received from, or on
behalf of, the representatives of the deceased addressee.
(3) In the absence of any claim from the sender, a claim made by, or on behalf of, the
representatives of the addressee, may be admitted if the Head of the circle is satisfied that the
applicant is entitled to represent the addressee, provided always that, if the article is insured or
there is reason to believe that it contains valuable property, or there is any other special cause for
caution, an indemnity bond should be obtained from the person to whom the article is delivered.
(4) An application from, or on behalf of, the representatives of a deceased addressee for the
delivery of any article in the custody of the Returned Letter Office, which cannot be returned to the
sender and has, therefore, been treated as “Returned” may also be complied with, subject to the
conditions laid down in the preceding paragraph.
EXCEPTION – If the representatives of a deceased addressee claim delivery of an insured
article on the strength of a probate of the deceased will, or letters of administration the article may
be delivered to them without an indemnity bond. In the case of a certificate of succession,
however, the execution of an indemnity bond may be dispensed with only when the insured article
is mentioned in the certificate.
67-A. The Postmaster-General may at his discretion sanction delivery of registered articles,
parcels and insured articles addressed to and payment of money orders payable to students and
inmates of educational institutions to the head of the institution subject to the conditions mentioned
in the Post Office Guide.
68. Disposal of injurious, indecent or obscene articles. – (1) The Head of a Circle is
empowered by section 23(3) (a) of the Post Office Act to direct, if necessary, that a postal article
suspected to contain any explosive, dangerous, deleterious of filthy substance, or anything liable to
injure postal articles in course of transmission by post or any officer of the Post Office, the
transmission by post or any officer of the Post Office, the transmission of which by post or any
officer of the Post Office, the transmission of which by post is prohibited under section 19 of the