IMPORTANT POINT
Loss caused by fire incident due to short-circuit directed to be paid by insurance company, i.e., Rs. 16,17,21,556.

ORDER

R.K. Agrawal, President.—The present Consumer Complaint has been filed under Section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) by M/s. Mangalam Organics Limited, Mumbai (hereinafter referred to as the Complainant Company) against The New India Assurance Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as the Opposite Party Insurance Company).

2. Brief facts as narrated in the Consumer Complaint are that the Complainant Company M/s. Mangalam Organics Limited (earlier known as Dujodwala Products Limited in the year 1981 and subsequently known as Allied Colloids Pvt. Ltd. in the year 1992) is engaged in the manufacture of Terpene Products such as Camphor Technical, Camphor A Grade, Camphene, Isobornyl Acetate, Isoborneol, Dipentene, Sodium Acetate Trihydrate, Camphor Oil, Pine Oil, Pine Tar, Resin Products such as Terpene Phenolic Resin, Penta Ester Gum, Glycerol Ester Gum, Alkyl Phenolic Resin, Phenol Formaldehyde Resin, Gum Rosin etc. The Complainant Company is an ISO certified Company and is a Government recognized Export House with customers in Europe, USA, Africa and Middle East. The Factory of the Complainant Company comprised of various departments for the storage, production and Office. One Block of the Factory was used for Resin Plant for manufacture of various Resin Products and other Block comprises of a Camphor Plant used for the manufacture of Camphor Products. The Complainant Company obtained two Insurance Policies, i.e., Standard Fire Policy No. 11080011150100000168 and the Declaration Policy 11080011150200000001 valid from 01st May 2015 to 30th April 2016 from the Opposite Party Insurance Company for covering the risk of Building (Super Structure / Plinth & Foundations), Plant & Machinery (P&M), Furniture, Fittings, Fixtures (“FFF”), Stock and Stock (Work-in-progress) at the Factory. During the currency of the Insurance Policies on 22 June 2015, due to short-circuit there was a major fire accident at about 12:30 hours in the Resin Plant located in the Factory. Upon noticing the fire, the power supply of the entire Factory was isolated and the Plant Operations, including the Boiler Line, Chilling Plant and other Common Utilities were completely shut down. The fire which broke out in the Resin Plant reached the Common Utilities connected to the Camphor Plant. Having no alternative arrangement to cool off the Camphor Plant, maintain the temperature and to prevent the possibility of an explosion, resulting from the exothermic heating of the material charged in process at the various Reactors at the Camphor Plant, the Complainant Company was compelled to drain out Work-in-Progress (WIP) items in the Reactors, Columns and Pipelines to avoid fire/explosion in the Camphor Plant. It is the case of the Complainant Company that if drain out of Work-in-Progress was not done, the Camphor Plant would have also caught fire and it would have lead to an enormous loss to the tune of Rs.80 – Rs.100 crores. The Opposite Party Insurance Company was informed about the fire incident on 22nd June, 2015, who appointed M/s. Allied Insurance Surveyors & Loss Assessors Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Surveyor) to assess the loss. The Surveyor visited the Factory to assess the loss. Requisite information / documents were provided to the Surveyor. The Complainant Company lodged a total claim of Rs.29,26,64,553/- (Rs.18,93,35,219/- towards Standard Policy and Rs.10,33,29,334/- towards Declaration Policy) with the Opposite Party Insurance Company. The Complainant Company informed the Opposite Party Insurance Company that the Resin Plant would take approximately 9 months to get into Operation as it would require redesigning of Equipment, Fabrication, Installation, Commissioning of the Plant and the Structure on which the Equipment is to be installed would also be replaced and it would require huge am