JUDGMENT :

1. Aggrieved by the refusal on the part of the 6th respondent in declining to issue a legal heirship certificate to the petitioners, they have approached this Court with this Writ Petition.

2. Brief facts are as under:

The petitioners are the wife and daughter of Sri. A. Jayapalan, who used to work as a Tyre Retreader in the Main Depot of the 2nd respondent-Corporation. Jayapalan went missing on 30.4.2011 and has not been seen by persons who would naturally have heard of him had he been alive.

3. When he was found missing for a week or so, the petitioners approached the Mananthala Police Station and lodged a complaint on 7.5.2011 based on which, Crime No. 158/2011 was registered under section 57 of the Kerala Police Act. Despite a proper investigation by the police, they were not able to trace out his whereabouts. Exhibit P2 is the certificate issued by the Circle Inspector of Police, wherein it is stated that no clues could be obtained about the whereabouts of the missing person.

4. Armed with Ext.P1 and P2, the petitioners approached the 2nd respondent seeking family pension and by Ext.P3 order dated 16.5.2015, the same was sanctioned.

5. The petitioners then approached the