JUSTICE V.K. JAIN, PRESIDING MEMBER (ORAL)

          Late Shri Champa Lal Jat, brother of the complainant / appellant obtained three insurance policies from the respondent HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited, between November, 2013 to July, 2014.  Out of the aforesaid two policies, one policy lapsed.  The deceased insured having died on 22.4.2016, the claims in respect of the remaining two policies one bearing number 16980568 and the other bearing number 16446588 were submitted by the complainant, he being the nominee under the said polices.  The claims having not been paid, he approached the concerned State Commission by way of a consumer complaint.

2.      The complaint was resisted by the respondent, which inter-alia stated in its written version that the policies had been obtained concealing facts such as the occupation, income and previous polices taken from the respondent as well as from other insurance company, in quick succession within a short time span.  It was further stated in the written version filed by the insurer that had the insured disclosed the previous policies taken by him, the policies in question would not have been given to him, considering the income disclosed by him.

          It was also alleged in the written version filed by the respondent that the complainant was a big investor who had been taking polices identifying potential death cases and his group comprises several other individuals, who used to identify potentially sick people.

3.      The State Commission vide impugned order dated 21.8.2018 dismissed the complaint.  Being aggrieved the complainant / appellant is before this Commission.

4.      Since the complainant is not a Class I legal heir of the deceased insured, he being his brother, I asked the learned counsel for the complainant / appellant as to whether the deceased by survived by any Class I legal heir such as his widow and children.  The learned counsel stated that the deceased was survived by his wife though he was not aware whether he was survived by any child or not.  Though, the complainant was a nominee under the insurance policy taken on the life of late Shri Champa Lal Jat, the benefit under the said insurance policies eventually belongs to the Class I legal heir of the deceased.  Though, a nominee can collect the benefit payable under an insurance policy, he has to hold the said benefit in Trust for the legal heirs of the deceased till the time the said benefits are paid by him to the legal heirs.  Since the complainant is not a Class I legal heir of late Shri Champa Lal Jat, he, in my view, had no locus-standi to file the consumer complaint, which could have been filed only by the Class I legal heirs of the deceased.

5.      On merits, it is not in dispute that while obtaining the insurance policy from the respondent, the deceased insured had not disclosed an existing policy which he had already taken from Bharti AXA on 20.11.2013.  The case of the respondent is that had the other policies been disclosed in the proposal, the proposals would not have be