Lawfully yours: By Retd Justice K Chandru

CHENNAI: Approach taluk supply officer if fingerprints go obscure at PDS shops

Q. Malfunctioning or faulty fingerprint sensors at PDS shops are proving to be a nightmare for the poor who queue up for provisions distributed by the government. Many, mainly senior citizens, are turned away as the device kept at the fair price shop couldn’t read their fingerprints. Amazingly, such biometric fingerprint scanners often don’t work properly at fair price shops, while the same is used by various other service providers with no such complaints. Senior citizens, left to fend for themselves, are the most vulnerable. Can the PDS shopkeepers turn away senior citizens saying fingerprints aren’t readable on scanners? — R Marimuthu, Chennai

A. It’s the same story for many across the State, thanks to the poor quality of the instruments that fail to read the biometric identity. While our fingerprints get identified in a fraction of a second on our mobile phones, at some banks etc we come across employees pressing their fingers on the scanner repeatedly. The technology has advanced so much that there are many better identifiers. Fingerprints are no longer reliable. The case of the aged being turned away at PDS shops over fingerprint identity is a serious matter. Those facing such difficulty can complain to the taluk supply officer and get help.

Sole and absolute owner can do what they want with an inherited property

Q. I’m a single woman with substantial wealth to my name. I have just one sibling, and we both have equal rights over property and land. For my share, over a while, I would like to donate most of it to the many charities and social causes I believe in. Is that legally possible, as a lot of my wealth is inherited from my father? Do I need my sibling’s NOC or something? What does the law say about it? — Malarvizhi A

A. You can value the properties and can go in for a partition of properties between both of you and reduce the same in writing. As for your share, you can deal with it in whichever way you want. But if it is a property indivisible and your sibling is a minor, then you have to prove that the disposal was in the interest of the minor. Natural guardians of the minors will have to be careful in dealing with their properties. After they become major, they can repudiate your sale. Certainly, your disposal of the properties for charities or social causes cannot be said to be in the interest of the minor.