IMPORTANT POINT
Where due to negligence on part of appellant precious one year of the complainant was lost and she could not get admission to a required course, no interference would be made by the State Commission with the amount of compensation awarded by the District Forum.

Arun Kumar Goel (Retd.), President— Mr. R.S. Gauttam, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that neither the admission form alleged to have been sent by respondent No.1 to his client, nor the bank draft accompanying it issued by respondent No. 4 was received by his client. In this behalf he laid great emphasis on Annexure R. 3C, dated 31.5.2005, letter issued by State Bank of Patiala branch to the Director, IGNOU, Shimla, that draft in question was not paid till that date which was issued by its Sidhwari branch. Issuance of draft is otherwise made out from the certificate issued by respondent No. 4 bank. In this behalf by referring to Annexure C1, Mr. Gauttam submitted that it was addressed to Dr.D.B. Negi, Regional Director, IGNOU Study Centre, Shimla. This is a postal receipt. C2 is the photocopy of the bank draft and C3 is counterfoil of the pay-in-slip. While contesting the correctness of the impugned order passed by District Forum below, Mr. Gauttam also referred to Annexure C4, the application form for admission to the Bachelor of Library and Information Science Course, and urged that respondent No.1 was required to have sent the completed form with copies of certificates etc., the prescribed programme fee to the Regional Director only so as to reach on or before the due date notified in the advertisement. Further according to this document, forms sent to any other office of the University will not be entertained under any circumstances. Finally, it was urged by Mr. Gauttam that the form in question should have been sent along with the requisite fee to the Regional Director at Regional Centre of IGNOU at Khalini, Shimla-2. Whereas it was addressed to Study Centre which is at Government College, Sanjauli. There is no Director in the Study Centre and only Coordinators are there. On all these grounds according to Mr. Gauttam, this appeal deserves to be allowed by setting aside the impugned order and thus dismissing the complaint. .

2. All these pleas were contested by Mr. Soni, learned counsel for respondent No.1. Per him, this is a case of gross highhandedness as well as deficiency of service on the part of the appellant. He laid great emphasis on the copy of the receipt of speed-post dated 30.6.2004 delivered by Chhotta Shimla Post Office to Dr. D.B. Negi, IGNOU, Shimla-2. It is duly stamped by the office of the appellant on the said date. This clearly indicates that the Speed Post wherein admission form and draft according to the respondent was sent addressed to Shri D.B. Negi, Director, Study Centre, IGNOU, Shimla, was delivered in his office along with 61 other letters. Therefore, according to him no benefit can be derived by the appellant either from Annexure R3C, certificate regarding non-encashment of the bank draft as well as stand of the appellant that neither the admission form nor the bank draft was received by it, thus, there being no deficiency of service on its part is without substance and merits rejection.

3. We specifically confronted Mr. Gauttam, learned counsel for the appellant what he has to say regarding receipt of 62 speed post letters received in the office of the appellant from Chhotta Shimla Post Office in the name of one addressee i.e. Dr. D.B. Negi, IGNOU, Shimla-2 which also contained the particulars of the Speed Post letter wherein respondent No.1 claims to have sent the admission form along with the bank draft, Mr. Gauttam submitted that as per admission of the respondent No.1 that the speed post addressed to Dr. D.B. Negi at IGNOU, Study Centre, which was not in consonance with Annexure C4 as the respondent was supposed to have sent the admission form along with the requisite course fee to the Regional Centre concerned only.

4. The matter is not so simple in the face of the receipt dated 30.6.2004 which clearly indicates that it was delivered to the addressee not at Study Centre, Government College, Sanjauli, but at IGNOU, Shimla-2 along with 61 other speed post letters. It is not