IMPORTANT POINT
Insurance claim cannot be rejected on mere surmises.

Vinay Kumar, Member—This Revision Petition has been filed against the order of Rajasthan Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Appeal No.845/2008. The Revision Petitioner/United India Assurance Co. has prayed that the impugned order should be set aside. In the impugned order, the State Commission has come to a conclusion that the consignment of Fortified Corn Soya Blend Flour exported by the Respondent JVS Food Pvt. Ltd. to Cambodia, had got infested due to insect name Tribollium Castaneum during transit from India to Cambodia. Therefore, the Complainant was entitled to get an amount of Rs.6,14,883/- which he had to spend to make the consignment fit for consumption.

2. This order of the Rajasthan State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is challenged by the Revision Petitioner, primarily on the grounds that –

(i) The State Commission has allowed additional evidence to be produced before it in the form of report of the Deputy Director of Agriculture. This report itself is of May, 2009 i.e. nearly four years after the goods were dispatched in July, 2005. Therefore, the report could not have been based on inspection of the goods in question.

(ii) State Commission has not given any ground for discarding the Surveyor’s Report, which is an important document.

3. We have heard Sri K.L.Nandwani, counsel for the Revision Petitioner and the counsel for the Respondent/Complainant as well as perused the records of the case.

4. The facts, in very brief, are that 900 MT of Fortified Corn Soya Blend flour in 36,000 bags was exported from Jaipur to Cambodia in July, 2005. Before shipment from India, the consignment was delayed at Mumbai for about a month, due to heavy rain. The goods arrived in Cambodia in mid September, 2005, after about 45 days. A few days later, when the goods were unloaded in the warehouse in Cambodia, the contents were found infested by these worms. As we have already noted, the Complainant had to incur an expenditure of Rs.614883/- for making the infested consignment fit for consumption.

5. His claim for payment of this expenditure under the policy, was repudiated by the RP/Insurance Company on 15.6.2006, on the basis of the report of the M/s. Eurogal Surveys, Cambodia. The Surveyor came to the conclusion that:-

“4.4. Fumigation will exterminate worms, grubs and adult bugs but does not affect un-hatched eggs that were present in the flour. In our opinion these eggs hatched into worms during the course of the transport and the worms grew into adult bugs starting new generations of infestation inside the bags.

4.5. Accordingly we are of the opinion that the infestation was the result of the presence of the vermin in the goods prior to shipment and was not the result of any external cause during the transport.”

6. This report and repudiation based thereon, was accepted by the District Forum, which dismissed the Consumer Complaint. However, when the matter went to the State Commission in appeal, the finding of the District Forum was not found acceptable.

7. The State Commission has taken into consideration the test reports of independent agencies, which show that the consignment of Corn Soya Blend Flour was duly fumigated and disinfested before being sent to Cambodia. The State Commission, therefore, concluded that the consignment was free from any insects at the time of sending. However, heavy rain at the port and detention of stocks, for nearly a month, may have allowed the insects Tribollium Castaneum to have developed during transit.

8. In our view, the finding of M/s. Eurogal Surveys in paras 4.4 and 4.5 of their report on the cause of damage need to be seen in the background of the complete report and not in isolation. The consignment of 36,000 bags was delivered in Phnom Penh on 20.9.2005 (para1.2). The Surveys examined 15 bags, selected at random, out of the total of the 36,000 (para 2.8). In the para dealing with fumigation of the cargo, the report of M/s. Eurogal Surveys (par