The Kerala High Court issued notice on a Petition seeking direction to the respondents to submit a report on the steps taken to shift the Mulakulam North Post Office from the premises wherein it was functioning and quash the same.
The Petition filed by local residents within the limits of Mulakulam North Post Office, Piravom, Ernakulam further seeks direction to the Respondent No.2 (The Chief Postmaster General (Kerala Circle)) , Respondent No. 3 (The PostMaster General , Central Region) , Respondent No. 4 (The Superintendent of Post Offices , Aluva Division) and Respondent No. 5 (The Inspector of Posts, Muvattupuzha) to take immediate steps to relocate the Mulakulam North Post Office to the existing premises within Namakkuzhy, Piravom Municipality.
The facts of the case is that the Mulakulam North Post Office was established in the year 1952 and though it was locally shifted twice or so in consideration of available space, the same was functioning in the premises owned by petitioner No.2 for the last more than 40 years. It was the long cherished dream of the residents of the locality of Namakuzhy, in Piravom Municipality to have a post office as the nearby post office in the locality was about 6-7 kilometers away.
The Mulakulam North Post Office was mainly catering to the needs of Govt.Higher Secondary School for sending examination papers and other certificates of the students and staffs. Apart from that the said post office was a resort to the various needs of the thousands of local residents such as mail booking services, banking services, remittance services and insurance services. The banking services other than savings account include recurring deposits, fixed deposits and issuance of national savings certificates. Thus the people in the locality were mainly dependent on the local post office for all these needs.
While considering the matter , the Division Bench of Chief Justice S.Manikumar and Justice Murali Purushothaman issued notice to the respondents and for filing statement/counter affidavit, as the case may be, with supporting documents , the High Court posted the matter on 20.3.2023.