Hyderabad: In a significant relief to a cancer-stricken woman whose husband, a bank officer, has been missing for nearly 21 years, the Telangana high court has directed Indian Bank to release all terminal benefits due to the family and provide a compassionate appointment to one of her children within eight weeks.The petitioner’s husband, V Francees, joined Indian Bank in 1991 and was promoted as assistant manager in New Delhi in Feb 2004. However, after just seven months in his new post, he went missing on Sept 30, 2004, and has not been traced since. Though a police complaint confirmed that he remained untraceable, the bank went ahead and issued a chargesheet before compulsorily retiring him from service. Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka observed that under section 108 of the Indian Evidence Act, a person unheard of for over seven years is legally presumed dead. Despite this presumption and a legal heir certificate obtained by the family in 2012, the bank had neither released retirement benefits nor acted on their request for a job on compassionate grounds. Taking into account the petitioner’s health condition as a cancer patient and the prolonged hardship endured by her family, the judge held that the case merited “sympathetic consideration.” He ordered the bank to extend a suitable job to one of her children, depending on their qualifications, and to release all pending dues, including terminal benefits, within eight weeks. Additionally, the court imposed costs of ₹50,000 on Indian Bank, directing that the amount be deposited with the director of sainik welfare, Hyderabad.
