Provisions of Rule 29(2)(1) of the Post Office Savings Bank Account Rules, 1981 authorize any of the account holders to withdraw the amount involved in joint accounts.

JUDGMENT :

Biswanath Rath, J.

1. Facts as borne in the Writ Petition are that after the death of the husband of the Petitioner on 14.7.2001, the Petitioner & her step son, namely, Ramakrishna Rana, opened MIS accounts jointly in Joint 'B' type of account bearing Pass Book Nos. (i) 71169 for Rs. 48,000, (ii) 71170 for Rs. 48,000 & (iii) 71171 for Rs. 12,000. When the Petitioner's step son was going to withdraw the deposits under M/s. accounts on premature without consent of the Petitioner, the Petitioner made a representation to the Opp. Party Nos. 2 & 3 on 30.3.2002 requesting them not to allow withdrawal of the amount from the joint accounts. The Petitioner further averred that in response to her such request, she was intimated by the department through letter dated 5.6.2002 that the concerned MIS accounts are jointly standing in the names of the Petitioner as well as her step son & as per the prevailing Rule, the accounts can be operated by anyone of the depositors & in view of the terms & conditions of the deposit, they cannot prevent the other signatory from withdrawing the amount from the MIS accounts. The Petitioner has further alleged that despite her pleader notice & repeated request, the amount was allowed to be withdrawn by her step son from the joint account deposits. Following no positive response from the Opp. Party Nos. 2 & 3, she is compelled to file the Writ Petition seeking a direction to the Opp. Parties to make payment of the deposited amount in MIS Accounts bearing Pass Book Nos. 71169, 71170 & 71171 total worth of Rs. 1,00,000 with 18% penal interest accrued thereon within a stipulated period. Per contra, the Opp. Parties, i.e. Opp. Party Nos. 1 to 3 originally in the Writ Petition filed a joint counter affidavit indicating therein that though they have received the request of the Petitioner for not allowing withdrawal in favour of the other account holder, but since the accounts were joint 'B' type accounts, any of the account holders was permissible to withdraw the amount involved following the provisions contained in Savings Bank General Rules 1981 & the Post Office Savings Bank Account Rules, 1981. The Opp, Parties have also further averred that there appears to be a dispute between the account holders due to personal rivalry & such dispute cannot be looked into by the postal authorities. In paragraph-10 of the counter affidavit, the Opp. Parties have categorically submitted that the premature amount along with accrued interest vide MIS Account Nos. 71169, 71170 & 71171 amounting to Rs. 1,08,000, has already been withdrawn on 15.10.2003 on premature closure by the joint depositor Sri Ramakrishna Rana after observing due formalities. In justifying their plea, the Opp. Parties have also filed the document vide Annexure-C/2, which clearly discloses that the amounts involved were in joint accounts. In support of their claim, so far as provisions contained in Savings Bank General Rule, 1981, the Opp. Parties have also filed relevant portion of the Rule. Rule 29(2)(1) reads as follows:

"1. Single & Joint Accounts:- Single accounts can be opened by an adult or a minor or on behalf of a minor or a person of unsound mind by a guardian. Joint accounts can be opened by two or three adults to be operated by them (a) jointly or by the survivors/survivor which is called Joint-A type account (b) either of them/any of them or either of the survivors or survivor which is called Joint-B type account. Any number of accounts can be opened by the depositor(s) but NOT more than one single & one joint account can be opened in each post office. The maximum limit of balance in single & Joint account is Rs. 50,000 & Rs. 1,00,000 respectively. When the maximum balance is reached in the account, no further deposits should be accepted.

If the depositor has more than one account, the total balance of all accounts together with his share in a Joint account, if any, should not exceed Rs. 50,000 at anytime."

2. From the pleadings & submiss