JUDGMENT

S.B. Sinha, J.—Appellant insurer is before us questioning the correctness or otherwise of a judgment and order dated 10.09.1999 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir in CIMA 21 of 1998 allowing the appeal preferred by the respondent herein from a judgment and order dated 16.12.1997 passed by the Jammu & Kashmir Consumers Protection Commission.

2. Respondent herein carries on business in jewellery. It obtained a policy known as ‘Jeweller Block Policy’. A theft of 140 gms of jewellery worth of Rs.63,000/- occurred in his business premises. A First Information Report was lodged therefor. Respondent also lodged a claim with the appellant herein. The same having not been settled for a long time, an application was filed before the State Consumers Protection Commission constituted under the J & K Consumers Protection Act, 1987.

3. The question raised before the Commission was as to whether the loss in question was covered by the insurance policy. Appellant contended that the claim of the respondent is covered by an exclusion clause contained in the policy, which reads as under :

“8. Loss or damage occasioned by theft or dishonesty or any attempt th