Legal Heirs Residing At Deceased's Address Are Proper Recipients Of Mail; Return To Sender Not Justified Where Family Members Are Available
Regulation 51 of the Post Office Regulations, 2024, which treats mail addressed to a deceased person as unclaimed, must be read harmoniously with Regulation 65(1)(c), which permits delivery to persons to whom the item can properly be delivered. Return to sender arises only where no such person exists at the address. Legal heirs of a deceased addressee residing at the same address fall within the category of persons to whom items can properly be delivered. Administrative instructions cannot supplant subsidiary legislation and must be read in accordance with the scheme of the Regulations. A regulatory gap exists in defining the category of such persons, causing implementation confusion, but the provision is not ultra vires the Post Office Act, 2023, or Article 14 of the Constitution.
