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NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, NEW DELHI
V.B. Gupta, Presiding Member, Dr. B.C. Gupta, Member
New India Assurance Co. Ltd. —Petitioner
versus
Dev Medical Agency & Anr. —Respondents
Revision Petition Nos. 2058 & 2255 of 2011
Decided on 10.4.2015
Counsel for the Parties:
For the Petitioner:Mr. Vinod Mahendru, Advocate
For the Respondent No.1:Mr. Lekh Raj Sharma, Advocate
For the Respondent No.2:Brig. B. S. Taunque, Advocate
IMPORTANT POINT
Unless there are sufficient grounds to make departure from report of Surveyor, same should not be discarded.
Headnote:Consumer Protection Act, 1986—Sections 15, 17, 19 and 21—Insurance—Theft in shop— District Forum directed opposite parties to make payment of Rs. 10,64,103/- alongwith 9% interest and to pay their respective shares and a sum of Rs. 3,300/- as litigation expenses— Complainant has nowhere been able to prove that stocks of that amount were stolen from their premises during alleged incident of theft—Surveyor has brought out very clearly that complainant had given different figures of sale and purchase in three different documents submitted by them—It has nowhere been established that assessment made by Surveyor suffers from any infirmity—Unless there are sufficient grounds to make departure from report of Surveyor, same should not be discarded—Orders passed by Consumer Fora below do not reflect correct appreciation of the facts and legal position on the issue and same deserve to be set aside—Complainant/respondent should be paid as per assessment made by common Surveyor appointed by two Insurance Companies. (Paras 7 to 10)
Result: Revision Petitions allowed.
Dr. B.C. Gupta, Member—These are two revision petitions filed under section 21(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the impugned order dated 17.03.2011, passed by the Haryana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Panchkula (for short ‘the State Commission’) in First Appeal No. 2998 of 2007, “New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs. Dev Medical Agency & Anr.” and First Appeal No. 2999 of 2007, “National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Dev Medical Agency & Anr.”, vide which, while dismissing the said two appeals, the order dated 25.09.2007, passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, allowing the consumer complaint no. 341 of 2006 filed by Dev Medical Agency was upheld.
2. Briefly stated, the facts are that respondent no. 1/Complainant, Dev Medical Agency through its partner, Ranbir Sharma was running the business of medical store and their business premises was insured with the petitioner Insurance Companies viz. the New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and the National Insurance Co. Ltd. The insurance was made vide cover note no. 030940 dated 02.03.2004 for a sum of Rs. 10 lakhs with the New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and vide cover note no. 267969 dated 14.02.2004 for a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs with the National Insurance Co. Ltd. It has been stated by the complainant in the consumer complaint before the District Forum that there was theft in the said shop on the intervening night of 5/6.04.2004. The local police was informed and an FIR No. 94 dated 07.04.2009, under Section 380/457 IPC was registered at Police Station Chandni Bagh. The Insurance Companies were also informed by the complainant which appointed surveyor to assess the loss. According to the complainant, closing stock available in the shop as on 31.03.2004 was valued at Rs. 12,82,190.02/-. Besides, medicines worth Rs. 16,658/- were purchased during the period 02.04.2004 to 05.04.2004, and these were also available in the shop at the time of theft. The complainant stated that he had requested the Insurance Companies to give compensation for the loss of Rs. 10,64,103/- and had submitted all necessary documents to them, but the Insurance Companies did not accept his claim. Alleging harassment and mental agony at the hands of the Insurance companies, the complainant filed the consumer complaint in question seeking direction to the petitioners to pay Rs. 15 lakhs as compensation and Rs. 50,000/- for mental agony and physical harassment. The complaint was resisted by the Insurance Companies by filing their written statements before the District Forum. The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. stated that a preliminary spot survey was got done through Ashish Bahl, surveyor and later on, assessment was got made by Consolidated Surveyors Pvt. Ltd. and as per their report, the total loss assessed was Rs. 2,93,356.58/-. The said figure was apportioned between the two Insurance Companies, whereupon the share of New India Assurance Co. Ltd. was fixed at Rs. 97,785.53/- and that of National Insurance Co. Ltd. was Rs. 1,92,571.05/-. The Insurance Companies also stated that as per the report of the surveyor, the insured had manipulated the accounts, vouchers, etc, so as to increase the projected stock and to avail undue benefit under the policy. The sale and purchase figures were not authentic, as they did not tally with the sales tax returns and the balance sheet. There was, therefore, a breach of conditions of the insurance policy and hence, the claim was repudiated vide letter dated 23.03.2005. There was, therefore, no deficiency in service on the part of the Insurance Company. The National Insurance Company also filed their reply on similar lines, saying that the claim was repudiated by them as there was breach of policy terms and conditions. The District Forum, after taking into account the evidence of the parties, directed the opposite parties to make payment of Rs. 10,64,103/- alongwith interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of repudiation of the claim i.e. 23.03.2
