JUDGMENT

D.K. Jain, J. —

1.Challenge in this appeal, filed under Section 23 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (for short “the Act”), by the Maharashtra State Financial Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “the Corporation”), is to the final order, dated 7th January, 2002, passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi (for short “the Commission”) in Original Petition No. 9 of 1995. By the impugned order, the Commission has accepted the complaint preferred by the respondent (hereinafter referred to as “the complainant”) against the Corporation and has directed the Corporation to pay to the complainant an amount of Rs.4,84,457/- as compensation, within a period of two months from the date of the order and in case of default, to pay interest at the rate of 18% per annum from the date of order till actual payment.

2.Succinctly put, the material facts giving rise to the present appeal are as follows:

The complainant approached the Corporation for sanction of loan for his hotel project at Amravati. As per the project report, the capital outlay was of Rs.74.45 lakhs. The means of finance envisaged in the project report were as follows:

i) Proprietor’s capital :