IMPORTANT POINT
Jurisdiction of Consumer Fora extends to cases of services rendered by statutory and public authorities. Such authorities become liable to compensate for “misfeasance in public office” and Fora have statutory obligation to award compensation. The Fora must determine that the loss or injury suffered by citizen is due to mala fide or capricious or oppressive act.

G.D. Sharma, President—The complainant, namely Sh. Satish Sethi, is a Chartered Accountant by profession and resides in New Delhi. His case is that on 26.6.05, he along with family members consisting of his wife and two sons had booked four helicopter tickets from Baltal to the holy cave of Shri Amar Nath Shrine for undertaking to and fro journey on the next date i.e. on 27.6.05 and paid Rs. 40,000 as air fare. At the time the tickets were bought, the complainant was told orally by the concerned representative of the OPs to present themselves at Baltal helipad at 6 a.m. on 27.6.2007. They had done so but were made to wait there at the helipad upto 10.50 a.m. when they were allowed the boarding in the helicopter and they alighted at the helipad of the shrine at 11.05 a.m. They had been told to come back at the helipad before 11.30 a.m. for resuming back journey at the helipad and accordingly they were punctual to arrive five minutes earlier. The allegations made in the complaint are that in their presence helicopter came twice at the helipad but other passengers were allowed the boarding. The pilot had noticed their presence and specifically waived them to wait for the next sortie of the helicopter, which never materialized. They were allowed there upto 3 p.m. to bite their nails with abated breath hoping against hopes to avail the return journey which ended in a damp squib. The complainant has stated that he is hefty and sufficiently over-weight with the result that no horseman agreed despite many entreaties being made to allow him journey on the horseback. His wife is asthmatic patient. They had never mentally and physically prepared themselves to undertake return journey of a very highly arduous and risky nature. The whole family got segregated while undertaking the journey and got united at about 1O’clock of the night (i.e., on 28.6.2006) at the top of a mountain, which abounds the camp area of Baltal. The harrowing experience was like a nightmare for the whole family. The complainant and his wife felt like having a fresh lease of life in this mundane world after undergoing great mental and physical trauma. While resuming return journey the complainant lodged report of the incident in Police Station Kangan where case was registered under FIR No.7/2005. All the money for undertaking the journey was lying in the pocket of the complainant and on his separation his wife met the necessary needs of consumptions by resorting to the method of begging monetary help from the fellow pilgrims and the “poney wallas” who were accompanying them. It thus proved to be an incident of worst kind of unforgettable humiliation and degradation of personal honour and dignity. After reaching Srinagar on 29.6.2005 the complainant lodged a protest in the OPs head office but casual and shabby treatment was meted out to him.

The following reliefs are claimed by complainant:

1. Refund of Rs. 40,000 paid as fare for helicopter journey;

2. Refund of air travel expenses amounting to Rs. 50,000 which the complainant and his family members had paid to undertake journey from Delhi to Srinagar and back;

3. Payment of Rs. 2,50,000 toward cost of extended journey;

4. Compensation in the sum of rupees one crore for mental pain, agony and trauma cause to the complainant and his family members.

2. The OPs have contested the case and the written version. The sale of four air tickets in favour of the complainant and his family members is admitted on the qualification that they were sold reluctantly on the insistence of the complainant because there was heavy booking. Besides the weather conditions were bad and technical snags were surfacing in the craft. That the complainant and his family members were very late in reporting themselves at the helipad of Baltal and at the outset they were frankly told that chance of their return journey was very bleak. Their names had figured at the end of passengers list. The weather conditions were also worsening. The comp