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| SCC decides claim after 18 years | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Sep 01:- State Consumer Commission comprising Justice GD Sharma (rtd) and Sessions Judge BL Saraf (rtd) has decided a claim case filed in the commission in the year 1993 and directed National Insurance Company Unit-I Shalimar Road Jammu to reimburse the complainant for the alleged loss in the amount of Rs 8, 96, 500/- along with interest of @ 6% PA after two months from the date of receipt Surveyor’s report. The complainant M/S Harjeet Rice Mill Chak Salaria Vijaypur is also entitled to litigation expenses in the sum of Rs 10,000. The payment an amount of Rs lacs as directed by the Supreme Court its order dated April 3, 2000 which has been received by the complainant shall be deducted from the above said amount and interest shall not paid on this amount of Rs 2 lacs after the same was received by the complainant from the court of District Judge Jammu.
The Commission after hearing Adv Vishnu Gupta appeared for the complainant and Adv Jugal Kishore appeared for the Insurance Company, the judgment written by GD Sharma observed that the occurrence had taken place during the intervening night of 1/ 2 January 1992 when paddy stocks lying inside the premises of the Mill were extensively damaged in a fire, the mill had obtained Insurance Cover for the stocks of trade lying inside the building including the building to the extent of 15 lacs and immediately the Insurance Company appointed SSB Surveyor to assess the loss who visit the site on 7/8 January, 1992 and had prepared assessment report which were submitted before the Insurance company.
The case was of fraudulent nature and in the normal course of official dealing the Insurance Company was required to go to whole hog without losing any time, instead of getting the claim investigated from duly licensed investigator, the services of private placement and security agency named Dogra Agency were hired after a gap of 15 months from the date of incident. The credibility of that report has discussed and a suggestion was made to Insurance company to get the incident investigated from the concerned police but the course was not adopted and again the claim was dealt with ham handed manner because during the pedency of the complaint in this commission, the claim was repudiated. Commission on January 17, 1997 has allowed the claim of complainant to extent of assessed amount in the amount of Rs 8, 96, 500/- and award was challenged in appeal before the High Court and in SLP before the Supreme Court on the basis of the alleged fraud.
The Supreme Court remanded the case after setting-aside the order of Division Bench with a direction to Commission for de novo trial by allowing the parties to lead evidence and determined the maintainability of the alleged claim, which was decided today and Consumer Commission awarded 8, 96, 500 with interest 6% PA and further observed that the Commission failed to understand who in the absence of even an iota of evidence to prove the voice of alleged fraud, the concerned officials of the Insurance Company remained swamped with the obsession of cheating and fraud. In case the insurance company had no evidence in their arsenal, what was necessity of hairsplitting, permeated with ulterior motive to get in complainant’s hair. How much public money of the depositors has been wasted in long drawn litigation, those recalcitrant officials are accountable in public owned company. In order to see that public money is not drained out for the faults of erring officials, it become necessary that the higher echelons in hierarchy of the national insurance company shall recovered the amount of interest as well as the litigation expenses from their pay or pensionary benefits as the case may be after liquidating the whole liability to the complainant in the mode stated above. This will be in the interest of Insurer Company to improve its functional efficiency and checkmate other like minded officials existing on the pay of Role Company, Commission observed. JNF |
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