Court issues notices on ‘dead’ man’s plea

A local court has issued notices on an application filed by a 71-year-old man to set aside a 10-year-old decree declaring him dead following a suit filed by his wife.

The notices have been issued to the Assistant Director, Skill Development and Industrial Training Department, Panchkula, and applicant Anil Mann’s wife for filing their replies on October 29. They have also been directed to file their replies on the Mann’s application that pension benefits should not be released to his wife from September 2025 onwards.

On Friday, Mann had appeared before the court and filed an application to set aside a decree declaring him dead.

Anil Kumar Joshi, the counsel for Mann, argued before the court that the applicant’s wife had obtained ex parte decree and judgment from the court in 2016 fraudulently and started receiving pension benefit from the Government of Haryana from 2005 onwards.

Joshi argued that his client first came to know about the ex parte judgment when he approached his department for getting the pension benefit in the first week of December last year. Thereafter, he received a letter on March 19, informing him that he was declared dead by the Civil Court.

The court has adjourned the hearing for October 29.