fight for justice bcoz u have to file a complaint at ur nearest police station or court wre u reside.... or else leave the topic buddy bcoz thking of past is waste of time for good future.......

Locker is in whose name? 

locker in mother's name

I think the first and foremost thing your mother should do is to inform the concerned bank (where locker is) about this in writting and request the bank not to entertain anyone with authorisation letter for opening it. Also check the record of bank whether the locker was opened anytime after the possasion of key by your Chacha.

In addition to the advice of learned experts/.members your mother may immediately get in touch with BM of the bank, announce that keys are lost, and may send a follow up fax, email, and further followed by letter by redg post, and ask to issue duplicate keys and may remit the fee. Later lady may open the locker, take the items and vacate the locker. She may obtain another locker.

Mr.Thakkar,

As a lawyer I think that should not have been your reply.

Divya,

Now that 30 years have gone by,since opening the locker,first go to the bank,give a letter stating that your mother has lost the keys.The locker must have been in the name of your mother.If you don't get a positive reply at the bank,then give a police complaint that the key is lost .

Please note there is no provision of duplicate keys in the case of locker.You should immediately contact the branch manager concerned and know about the present position of the locker and inform them that the keys have been lost.Try to know if there was any operation in the locker account.May the God bless and you may find the locker in order.The only option that remains is of breaking open the locker in your presence by an authorised Mechanic.Good Luck.

Kindly approach the bank as ap.

The master policy, and bank policy is available on bank's website.You may read the policy carefully. The bank's policy has to be in line with guidelines of RBI,IBA. BM of the bank can seek opinion from legal cell and has to keep the HO informed in unique circumstances.

Has the address of the lady remained same as in bank's record? Did the lady inform the bank for change of address in writing? Did the lady receive any notice from bank, at old or new address?

Some of the guidelines and policy are given below and attached.

https://www.bankofbaroda.com/pfs/lockers.asp

-Loss of key should be immediately informed to the Branch. The bank shall not be responsible for any loss. Charges for opening the locker, or replacing the lost key, and for changing the lock shall be payable by the Renter/s.

-The Renter is required to operate the locker at least once in every six months and if the locker remains unoperated for more than a year from the last date of operation then the Bank will have a right to cancel the allotment of the locker by giving a notice for security reasons and treat the Renter/s as a defaulter, notwithstanding that the rent has been paid up to date.

5.Breaking open of Lockers

In case of breaking open of the locker, Rs.250/- will be recovered as incidental charges over and above actual cost incurred for the same.

https://www.eximguru.com/notifications/safe-deposit-lockers-articles-in-19430.aspx

Safe Deposit Lockers/Articles in Safe Custody

2.2 Customer due diligence for allotment of lockers / Measures

ii. Where the lockers have remained unoperated for more than three years for medium risk category or one year for a higher risk category, banks should immediately contact the locker-hirer and advise him to either operate the locker or surrender it. This exercise should be carried out even if the locker hirer is paying the rent regularly. Further, banks should ask the locker hirer to give in writing, the reasons why he / she did not operate the locker. In case the locker-hirer has some genuine reasons as in the case of NRIs or persons who are out of town due to a transferable job etc., banks may allow the locker hirer to continue with the locker. In case the locker-hirer does not respond nor operate the locker, banks should consider opening the lockers after giving due notice to him. In this context, banks should incorporate a clause in the locker agreement that in case the locker remains unoperated for more than one year, the bank would have the right to cancel the allotment of the locker and open the locker, even if the rent is paid regularly.

iii. Banks should have clear procedure drawn up in consultation with their legal
advisers for breaking open the lockers and taking stock of inventory.

The matter of opening the locker lies between the bank and their customer for that your mother has to be proactive.

Dr. (Maj) J C Vashista, ,Advocate #09891152939