| ORDER | DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, BATHINDA
CC. No. 228 of 14-05-2012 Decided on 09-11-2012
Veer Devinder Singh Chahal aged 34 years S/o Gurjant Singh, R/o Village Kot Bhai, now resident of Kothi No. 289, Patel Nagar, Bathinda. ........Complainant Versus
Axis Bank, The Mall, Bathinda, through its Branch Manager. The Gurdaspur Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Dhariwal Branch, District Gurdaspur through its Manager Anokh Singh C/o Aujhla Musical Group, near Babehali Chowk, Gurdaspur. .......Opposite parties
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
QUORUM Smt. Vikramjit Kaur Soni, President Sh. Amarjeet Paul, Member Smt. Sukhwinder Kaur, Member
For the Complainant : Sh. Amandeep Singh, counsel for the complainant. For the Opposite parties : Sh. Rajneesh Rampal, counsel for opposite party No. 1. Sh. G S Brar, counsel for opposite party No. 2. Opposite party No. 3 exparte.
O R D E R
VIKRAMJIT KAUR SONI, PRESIDENT
The instant complaint has been filed by the complaint under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, as amended upto date (Here-in-after referred to as an 'Act'). Briefly stated the case of the complainant is that he is holder of saving account No. 242010100096937 with opposite party No. 1. The opposite party No. 3 issued cheque bearing No. 42148 dated 17-04-2011 for Rs. 30,000/- from the saving bank account No. 1910 in favour of the complainant. The complainant submitted his cheque to opposite party No. 1 for encashment on 6-8-2012. The complainant alleged that the opposite party No. 1 has not deposited the amount of Rs. 30,000/- of aforesaid cheque of the complainant in his account. The complainant approached opposite party No. 1 to inquire about the same, but no satisfactory reply was given by opposite party No. 1. The complainant got served legal notice dated 9-4-2012 for depositing the said amount of Rs. 30,000/- in his account, but the opposite party No. 1 in reply to the notice stated that the cheque in question was sent to opposite party No. 2 for clearance and the same has been lost/misplaced and asked the complainant to submit the duplicate cheque. Thereafter the complainant approached the opposite party No. 3 for issuance of duplicate cheque, but he flatly refused to issue any duplicate cheque in his favour. Hence, the complainant has filed the present complaint seeking the directions to the opposite parties to pay an amount of Rs. 30,000/- alongwith interest besides compensation and cost. The opposite party No. 1 filed its separate written statement and pleaded that it had sent the cheque in question deposited by the complainant with opposite party No. 1 to opposite party No. 2 through On dot Courier on 11-08-2011 and the said courier was delivered to the opposite party No. 2 against proper receipt on 18-08-2011. Thereafter the chque in question was never received back by opposite party No. 1 after clearance for payment of cheque amount to the complainant as a result of which, the amount of Rs. 30,000/- could not be credited in the account of the complainant. The complainant inquired about the cheque from opposite party No. 1 and it immediately taken up the matter with opposite party No. 2 as well as with the courier agency. The courier agency informed opposite party No. 1 that the courier was delivered to opposite party No. 2 on 18-8-2011 and also submitted a copy of proof of delivery of said cheque to opposite party No. 1 The opposite party No. 1 then wrote a letter dated 18-01-2012 to opposite party No. 2 seeking clarification in this regard. The opposite party No. 1 has pleaded that the cheque in question has been lost by opposite party No. 2 for which it is not responsible. In reply to legal notice, the opposite party No. 1 has intimated the complainant that the cheque in question has been lost by opposite party No. 2 and also informed him to obtain the duplicate cheque from opposite party No.3 for payment of the cheque in question but he failed to obtain the duplicate cheque for clearance and filed the present complaint in order to harass opposite party No. 1. The opposite party No. 1 has further pleaded that it is not responsible, since the original cheque is lost by opposite party No. 2, it cannot credit the amount of cheque in the account of the complainant. The opposite party No. 2 in its separate written statement admitted that the cheque in question was mis-placed, but the duplicate cheque was not issued. The opposite party No. 3 had no amount in his account with the bank i.e. opposite party No. 2. Registered notice of complaint was sent to opposite party No. 3, but despite service of notice, none appeared on its behalf, as such, exparte proceedings were taken against it. The parties have led their evidence in support of their respective pleadings. Arguments heard. The record alongwith written submissions submitted by the parties perused. These are undisputed facts between the parties that the complainant is holder of saving account No. 242010100096937 with opposite party No. 1. The opposite party Nos. 3 issued a cheque bearing No. 42148 dated 17-04-2011 for Rs. 30,000/- in favour of the complainant which he deposited with opposite party No. 2 for encashment and debiting the amount of cheque in his saving account. The opposite party No. 1 sent the cheque in question to opposite party No. 2 which was received by it. The opposite party No. 2 admitted the fact that the cheque in question was misplaced and duplicate cheque was not issued. During the pendency of this complaint, a demand draft No. 312990 dated 23-10-2012 was delivered to the complainant on 5-11-2012 which he received under protest and recorded separate statement to this effect. Now the matter is that the complainant presented the cheque in question with opposite party No. 1 on 6-8-2011 vide Ex. C-2, issued by opposite party No. 3 which was sent to opposite party No. 2 for clearance which was received by it vide Ex. C-3. . The opposite party No. 2 has admitted the fact that cheque was lost. The principal amount of Rs. 30,000/- has been received back by the complainant on 5-11-2012 i.e. after more than one year that too when the complainant knocked the door of this Forum to get his grievances redressed. Hence, in such circumstances, the complainant is entitled to some amount of compensation on account of interest and harassment suffered at the hands of the opposite parties. Admittedly, the cheque in question has been lost by opposite party No. 2, thus it is liable to pay the compensation. In view of what has been discussed above, this complaint is partly accepted with cost of Rs. 500/- against opposite party No. 2 and dismissed qua opposite party Nos. 1 & 3. The opposite party No. 2 is directed to pay Rs. 3,000/- as compensation to the complainant. The compliance of this order be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order.
A copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and the file be consigned to the record.
Pronounced
09-11-2012 (Vikramjit Kaur Soni)
President
(Amarjeet Paul) Member (Sukhwinder Kaur)
Member
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