ORDER

Thiru. R. Pongiappan, J.—The present complaint has been filed under section 35 of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for the following reliefs:—

(a) Directing the opposite parties to pay a sum of Rs.98,58,000/- (Rupees ninety eight lakhs and fifty eight thousand only) to the complainant towards deficiency in service.

(b) Directing the opposite parties to pay a sum of Rs.50,00,000/- (Rupees fifty lakhs only) to the complainant as compensation for hardship, harassment, humiliation etc.

(c) Directing the opposite parties to do investigative auditing upto till date from all the accounts of complainant and to re-credit the misappropriated amounts and all illegal withdrawal amounts with interest and costs into the account of the complainant.

(d) Directing the opposite parties to release all original title deeds of complainant which were deposited as collateral security towards the alleged loan accounts which were not sanctioned to the complainant by the Bank and to cancel his MOD and issue the NOC as there is no due.

2. Case of the complainant is as follows:—

On 09.12.2006, the complainant has borrowed a term loan of Rs.5 lakhs from the then Syndicate Bank, now merged with Canara Bank/opposite parties. The loan has to be discharged by him within the period i.e. on 04.01.2011. Later, the then Manager of Syndicate Bank without getting consent from the complainant, unilaterally converted the discharged term loan into Over Draft. The complainant came to know about the same only in the year 2010 when the complainant sought loan for a sum of Rs.1 crore. The complainant was not informed about the unilateral conversion and hence he was not aware of the same and he could not raise any objection. However, he was called upon by the Bank to give security for the loan sought for by him by depositing his title deeds. During the relevant point of time, Rs.40 lakhs was sanctioned as OD to the complainant by the Canara Bank and thereupon the said amount was credited to the Over Draft accounts standing in the name of complainant. After crediting the said amount into the complainant’s account, the complainant has availed of only Rs.10 lakhs drawn on various occasions and left the remaining amount of Rs.30 lakhs in his account. In the meantime, from the year 2011 to 2013, the said amounts were withdrawn on various occasions through debit slips of the Bank by forging the signature of the complainant and the same came to the knowledge of the complainant only through the charge sheet filed in CC No.500/2020 dated 21.10.2020. Infact, the then Manager seems to have swindled and misappropriated the said amount. All the officers of the Syndicate Bank, who were working in the Bank at that time, seemed to have conspired together and played fraud upon the complainant. In this regard, the complainant is prosecuting them separately through the process of law by registering criminal case against them under CC No.500/20. The complainant further stated that without knowledge of the complainant, the then Manager closed the accounts of complainant clandestinely and reopened new accounts in the name of the complainant.

3. In the year 2015, when the complainant tried to withdraw the remaining amount which stands in his OD account, he was informed by the Bank that the balance amount in his account was only Rs.1 lakh. In this regard, he was not furnished with the statement of accounts. The said act committed by the Bank is within the ambit of deficiency in service. Later, on 19.02.2015, the complainant has given a written complaint to the then Manager but no legal action seemed to have been taken. Meanwhile, on 20.03.2015, the then Manager and bank employees came to the house of the complainant alongwith one Logasami, who is the Former Chief Manager and paid a sum of Rs.9 lakhs to the complainant after admitting the embezzlement of money by the then Manager and promised to settle the balance amount in short term. Thereafter, the opposite parties had not taken any st