DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM-II, U.T. CHANDIGARH [Complaint Case No:348 of 2010] Date of Institution : 01.06.2010 Date of Decision : 21.05.2012 Sh. Ashwani Kumar Munjal, Member, Blood Donors Cooperative House Building Society Ltd., resident of House No.3048, Sector 50-D, Chandigarh. ---Complainant. VERSUS 1. Blood Donors Cooperative House Building (1st) Society Ltd., #685, Sector 20-A, Chandigarh through its President/Secretary. 2nd Address: Blood Donors Cooperative House Building (1st) Society Ltd., Chandigarh through its President/Secretary, #1040, 1st Floor, Sector 21-B, Chandigarh. 2. Chandigarh Housing Board, Sector 9, Chandigarh through its Chairman. 3. Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh. ---Opposite Parties. BEFORE: SHRI LAKSHMAN SHARMA PRESIDENT SMT. MADHU MUTNEJA MEMBER SHRI JASWINDER SINGH SIDHU MEMBER Argued By: Sh. Ranjan Lohan, Advocate for the complainant. Sh. Gaurav Bhardwaj, Advocate for OP No.1. Sh. Vikas Jain, Advocate for OP No.2. Sh. Jatinder Singh, Advocate for OP No.3. PER LAKSHMAN SHARMA, PRESIDENT 1. Sh. Ashwani Kumar Munjal has filed this complaint under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 praying for the following reliefs:- (i) To refund Rs.4,10,727/- on account of interest charged from January 2002 to July 2008. (ii) To pay Rs.2,00,000/ as compensation for mental agony & harassment. (iii) To pay Rs.2,45,000/- on account of causing unreasonable delay in allotment and possession due to sheer negligence resulting in loss of rent and interest from 25.7.2008 to 22.10.2008 after receiving full & final payment of Rs.22,36,002/-. (iv) To pay Rs.1,50,000/- on account of wastage of time, energy and money to appear and plead before Executive Authorities as well as on forced litigation from June 2003 to October, 2008. (v) To pay Rs.22,000/- as costs of litigation. 2. In brief the case of the complainant is that he became member of the O.P. Society in the year 1987. On 30.06.1988, a final list of members was prepared by the OP Society in which his name was shown at Serial No.17. The complainant received a letter dated 15.05.1992 (Annexure P-3) from the OP-society for depositing 10% of the cost of land and in compliance, he deposited a sum of Rs.9,500/-. Subsequently, he received letter dated 21.02.1997 (Annexure P-4) wherein he was asked to deposit a sum of Rs.32,000/- for Category 'B' flat. The complainant deposited the same vide demand draft bearing No.J094419 dated 06.03.1997 (Annexure P-5) vide receipt (Annexure P-6). It is averred that due to certain reasons, OP No.1 did not encash the said demand draft and returned the same to the complainant for its revalidation along with a circular (Annexure C-7) issued in the month of January 1998. The complainant got the draft revalidated and re-submitted the same with OP No.1 on 13.01.1998 vide receipt (Annexure P-8). He also deposited an additional amount of Rs.500/- with OP No.1 vide receipt dated 13.01.1998 (Annexure P-9). Thereafter, vide letter dated 20.04.2000 (Annexure P-10), OP No.1 informed the complainant about the allotment of land to the society and requested to submit the necessary documents along with the enhanced cost of land to make 25% of cost of land worked out to Rs.61,500/-. According to the complainant, since the actual demand of OP No.2 was of only Rs.60,502/- for Category 'B' flat, the complainant vide letter dated 12.05.2000 (Annexure P-11) resented to the arbitrary demand of OP No.1 of Rs.61,500/- with an additional sum of Rs.1,000/- totaling Rs.62,500/-. On 22.05.2000, when the complainant approached the then President of OP No.1 namely Sh. Satwant Singh Gill for submission of requisite documents and demand draft of Rs.60,502/- dated 19.05.2000, he refused to accept the same. However, on 24.05.2000, the complainant deposited the said actual amount of Rs.60,502/- alongwith necessary documents (Annexures P-13 to P-17) through the office of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, D.T., Chandigarh. The said demand was deposited by OP No.1 in its bank account in Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank Ltd., Sector 22, Chandigarh along with the demand drafts of other members. According to the complainant, since there was no transparency in the functioning of the then management of the society, he wrote letter dated 12.02.2011 (Annexure P-18) to the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh and requested for supply of list of members. However, OP No. 2 vide its letter dated 07.03.2011 (Annexure P-19) turned down the request and directed the complainant to obtain the same from the then president of OP No.1. It is averred that OP No.1 never preferred to supply the list of members of the society to the complainant. In the month of June 2002, OP No.1 informed the complainant regarding the election schedule of the society. Accordingly, the complainant approached at the given address to collect the nomination paper to participate in the election but the same was found locked. He lodged his grievance with the then president vide letter dated 12.07.2002 (Annexure P-22). It is next averred that in the month of June 2003, the complainant came to know that the elections to the office bearers of the society are in process. He made some formal enquiry from OP No. 1 regarding the same but was amazed to hear that his name is nowhere in the list of allottee members of the OP No.1. He immediately wrote a letter dated 17.06.2003 (Annexure P-24) to the president of the society for looking into the matter with the copy of the same to the concerned statutory authorities. Consequently, the office of OP No.3 vide its memo-dated 25.06.2003 (Annexure P-25) directed the president of OP No.1 to submit comments regarding genuineness of complainant's membership. On getting no response, the complainant again wrote a letter dated 29.08.2003 (Annexure P-26) to both OPs No.1 and 2 to expedite the matter. Ultimately vide letter dated 08.09.2003 (Annexure P-27), O.P. No.1 intimated the complainant that the matter is under process and five allottee members have not deposited their dues, whose names still figured in the list of allotment letter. Through this letter, the complainant was also issued a final notice to deposit the pending dues. He also came to know about fact that the defaulting members have been verified/confirmed by the auditors in their report/inspection conducted pursuant to memo dated 21.10.2004 (Annexure P-28) issued by OP No.3 to the complainant. Subsequently, OP No.2 vide its letter dated 13.09.2004 (Annexure P-29) advised the complainant to approach OP No.3 for restoration of his name. According to the complainant, despite above all, nothing fruitful has come out till date and the OPs failed to induct his name in the list of allottee members. Finally, the complainant filed a petition under Section 55-56 of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1861 before the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh (Annexure P-30). The said petition was allowed vide Order dated 12.02.2008 (Annexure P-31) and the OP No.1 Society was directed to allot a ‘B’ Category Flat to the complainant as per his entitlement. However, the OP No.1 Society was held entitled to demand the remaining cost of the land and construction cost of the flat from the complainant, to be deposited within one month of the receipt of the allotment letter of the flat from the OP No.1 Society. However, the said order was not complied with by the OP Society. A letter dated 8.3.2008 (Annexure P-32) was also sent by the complainant to OP No.1 Society in this regard. In response, OP Society vide letter dated 28.6.2009 (Annexure P-33) asked the complainant to deposit Rs.18,18,580/- along with interest on account of cost of land and construction without issuing the any allotment letter or share certificate in terms of the orders dated 12.02.2008. Therefore, the complainant wrote another letter dated 1.7.2008 (Annexure P-34) to OP Society in this regard and requested it to issue allotment letter and share certificate in order to secure loan from bank. OP No.1 Society vide its letter dated 14.7.2008 (Annexure P-35) issued the certificate confirming the membership of the complainant and he was asked to deposit a sum of Rs.21,34,000/- by 31.7.2008. The complainant deposited the said amount vide letter dated 25.7.2008 (Annexure P-36) and the receipts issued by the OP society are Annexures P-37 and P-38 respectively. On 19.9.2008, the complainant wrote a letter (Annexure P-39) to the President of OP Society and requested to deliver the allotment letter and possession of the flat in question and also protested the amount of Rs.4,10,727 charged on account of interest. In response, the Joint Registrar, Co-Op Societies, UT, Chandigarh vide its letter dated 8.10.2008 (Annexure P-40) directed the OP Society to do the needful within 15 days. When nothing was heard, the complainant again wrote letter dated 20.10.2008 (Annexure P-41) to the President of OP society to deliver the possession of the flat in question. It is averred that the OP Society woke up from its slumber and issued an ante dated allotment letter i.e. 30.9.2008, on 22.10.2008 (Annexure P-42) wherein the complainant was asked to complete certain formalities. The complainant completed the required formalities vide letter dated 24.10.2008 (Annexure P-43). According to the complainant, the OP Society did not refund the interest amount of Rs.4,10,727/- paid by him and thus, he wrote letter dated 11.11.2008 (Annexure P-44) to the Registrar, Co-Op Societies, UT, Chandigarh for intervention but to no avail. The case of the complainant is that the OP Society has dealt with his case in a deliberate and negligent manner right from the year 2003 till the allotment and possession of flat. Even, it failed to comply with the orders and directions of the ARCS, UT, Chandigarh dated 12.2.2008 for about 5 months and took 8 months to issue allotment letter and deliver the possession of flat. According to the complainant, at the time of allotment of land to the OP society by Chandigarh Administration, the home loan bank rates of interests were at its lowest. However, he has not only been harassed for 7 years but also forced to obtain loan from bank at higher rates. According to the complainant, had he secured loan in the year 2002-03, he would have paid interest for 15-20 years to bank only but now the OP Society has charged interest illegally from the year January 2002 to July, 2008 and the complainant will pay interest to bank on home loan for 20 years from 2008 onwards. Thus, according to the complainant, the OP Society has illegally charged interest for the period January 2002 to July 2008 without any fault of the complainant. In these circumstances, according to the complainant, charging of interest to the tune of Rs.4,10,727/- for the period January 2002 to July 2008 by OP No.1 Society due to its own willful delay in allotment of the flat and handing over its possession, amounts to deficiency in service. In these circumstances, the complainant has filed the present complaint seeking the reliefs mentioned above. 3. In the written statement filed by OP No.1 – Society, most of the averments made in the complaint have been specifically denied. It is pleaded that in June, 2003, the name of the complainant was not shown in the list of allottee members issued by the Chandigarh Housing Board as his initial amount was withdrawn by the previous Management of the OP No.1 Society for the reasons best known to the complainant and the erstwhile management of OP No.1 Society. It is further asserted that the OP No.1 Society fully complied with the orders passed by the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies. However, the complainant was unable to secure loan from the bank and requested the OP No.1 Society to put his son ‘s name in the allotment for the purposes of securing loan. Accordingly, his request for accepted and the complainant was issued letter dated 19.7.2008 by the OP No.1 Society in this regard. It is next asserted that with the help of this letter issued by OP No.1 Society to the complainant, he was able to arrange loan from the bank to make the payment to OP No.1 Society towards the payment of his pending dues against Flat of Category ‘B’ in order to get the possession of the same. According to OP No.1, the complainant failed to comply with the demand of OP No.1 Society within the stipulated period. It has been pleaded that there is no delay on the part of OP No.1 Society to issue the allotment letter and hand over the possession of the flat in question. The possession of the flat was made to the complainant on completion of the requirements/formalities as per the instructions of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh. According to OP No.1 Society, the interest charged from the complainant is in accordance with the instructions issued by the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh and Chandigarh Housing Board with regard to the delayed payments. However, it has been asserted that the complainant had not challenged any action of OP No.1 Society in the year 2002-2003. In these circumstances, according to OP No.1 Society, there is no deficiency in service on its part and the complaint deserves dismissal. 4. In the written statement filed by OP No.2 – Chandigarh Housing Board, it has been pleaded that it is only a Nodal Agency as prescribed by the Chandigarh Administration and is only responsible for allotment of land to the House Building Societies for further allotment to its eligible members. According to OP No.2, it allotted 14548.177 Sq. yards land to OP No.1 Society in Sector 50, Chandigarh vide office allotment letter bearing Endst. No.1536 dated 25.1.2002 (Annexure OP-2/1) for construction of multi storied flats for their 39 eligible members i.e. 24 members of Category ‘A’ and 15 members of Category ‘B’, as per list (Annexure OP-2/2). It is pleaded that on scrutiny of the documents/ payments deposited by the members of OP No.1 Society by the officers of RCS, U.T., Chandigarh, the name of the complainant did not figure in the list of eligible members. According to OP No.2 – CHB, after the allotment of the land, OP No.1 – Society is solely responsible for issuing share certificates to its eligible members and it has nothing to do with the same. However, it has been pleaded that since the dispute was between the complainant and the OP No.1 Society, the complainant was advised to pursue the matter before the RCS, U.T., Chandigarh for restoration of his name. In these circumstances, according to OP No.2- CHB, it has no role to play in the matter and the complaint deserves dismissal. 5. In the written statement filed by OP No.3 – Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh, it has been admitted that letter dated 24.05.2000 along with pay order No.20064 dated 19.05.2000 received by Sh. Amarjit Singh, Inspector Gr-I(G), Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh were forwarded to the President/Secretary of OP No.1 Society, which was duly acknowledge on the same date as shown in Annexure P-14. It is further admitted that the complainant was directed to obtain the list of members from the President of OP No.1-Society. OP No.3 has further admitted that the complainant had filed a petition under Section 55-56 of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1861 before it. According to OP No.3, letter dated 04.11.2008 was duly considered and the complainant was directed vide memo No.Coop/HB/KL-46/08/4743 dated 04.11.2008 to furnish the relevant documents as required by OP No.1 – Society and take possession of the flat from the Society. In these circumstances, OP No.3 prayed for dismissal of the complaint. 6. The complainant filed separate replications to the written statements filed by OPs No.1 to 3, wherein he denied all the pleadings made in the written statements and reiterated the averments made in his complaint. 7. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the evidence on record. 8. The sole controversy involved in the present complaint is as regards the charging of interest by OP No.1 – Society for the period, the complainant was deprived of the allotment letter and the possession of the flat in question. 9. The case of the complainant is that he became member of the OP No.1 Society in the year 1987 and his name figured in the final list of members prepared on 30.06.1988 at Serial No.17. he also received a letter to this effect on 15.05.1992 (Annexure P-3). He also deposited a sum of Rs.9,500/- and subsequently a sum of Rs.32,000/- on the basis of the demand having been made by OP No.1. He also received a letter dated 20.04.2000 (Annexure P10) from OP No.1 regarding allotment of land to it and subsequently also deposited a sum of Rs.60,502/- being his share of the price of the land. However, for the reasons best known to OP No.1, the name of the complainant was removed from the list of the members and he came to know about this fact in the year 2003. Thereafter, the litigation between the parties started. The complainant moved a petition before the Registrar, Cooperative Societies praying therein that he be held member of the Society and the flat in question be allotted to him. The said petition filed by the complainant was allowed on 12.02.2008 vide order (Annexure P-31) and the learned Registrar, Cooperative Societies directed as under: - “In the light of above facts, the petition is allowed and the respondent society is directed to allot a ‘B’ category flat to the petitioner as per his entitlement. The society is entitled to demand the remaining cost of land and construction cost of the flat from the petitioner and the same will be deposited by the petitioner within one month of the receipt of the allotment letter of flat from the society.” 10. From perusal of the above said order, it is apparent that the Registrar, Cooperative Societies held that the complainant is a member of the Society and he is entitled to the allotment of the flat. OP No.1 Society was also directed to allot flat of ‘B’ Category to the complainant on his depositing the remaining cost of the flat in question. The OP No.1 Society demanded a sum of Rs.18,18,580/- being the price of the flat. The said amount was deposited by the complainant vide letter dated 25.07.2008 (Annexure P-36) after raising loan from the Bank. 11. The case of the complainant is that while demanding a sum of Rs.18,18,580/-, the OP No.1 charged a sum of Rs.4,10,727/- as interest on the cost of the land and the cost of construction. The case of the complainant is that he could not pay the price of the flat because of the fault of OP No.1 Society in removing his name from the list of members and failure on the part of OP No.1 Society to allot a flat to him. So, the complainant is not liable to pay interest to OP No.1 Society. 12. On the other hand, according to OP No.1 Society, as per rules, the complainant is liable to pay interest on the delayed payments. 13. To our mind, in the present case, it cannot be said that the payment made by the complainant is a delayed payment. As mentioned above, the name of the complainant was removed from the list of the members in the year 2003 and thereafter, he had to run from pillar to post in order to get allotment of the flat from OP No.1 Society. He moved a petition before the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh who decided the matter on 12.02.2008. Thereafter, the OP No.1 Society demanded a sum of Rs.18,18,580/- vide letter dated 28.06.2009 (Annexure P-33) being the price of the flat in question. In order to pay the said amount, the complainant needed the assistance of the Bank. As he was not having money with him, he had to apply for loan and for this purpose, he needed the required documents i.e. allotment letter and the share certificate and the said documents were supplied to the complainant on 22.10.2008 (Annexure P-42). Thereafter, the complainant applied for loan and paid the requisite amount to OP No.1 Society. In these circumstances, it cannot be said that the payment made by the complainant is a delayed payment in any way. The complainant could not pay the installments or the remaining cost of the flat in question in time because of the fault on the part of OP No.1 as his name was removed from the list of the members and he was not allotted the flat. Furthermore, the Registrar, Cooperative Societies had vide its order dated 12.02.2008 had specifically mentioned the entitlement of OP No.1 to the cost of the land and the cost of the construction of the flat only. There is no direction to OP No.1 to charge any interest. Thus, the demand of interest by OP No.1 Society is not in consonance with the orders of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh. In these circumstances, charging of interest by OP No.1 Society, amounting to Rs.4,10,727/- for the period from January 2002 to July 2008 amounts to deficiency in service and the complainant is entitled to the refund of this amount. 14. However, the complaint qua OPs No.2 and 3 deserves to be dismissed as no specific allegations have been leveled in the complaint against them. Therefore, the complaint qua OPs No.2 and 3 is dismissed. 15. In view of the foregoing discussion, the present complaint qua OP No.1 Society is allowed and OP No.1 is directed as under:- (i) to refund a sum of Rs.4,10,727/- to the complainant along with interest @9% p.a. from the its deposit till the date of this order; (ii) to pay a sum of Rs.50,000/- to the complainant as compensation for mental agony and harassment; (iii) to pay a sum of Rs.10,000/- as costs of litigation. 16. This order be complied with by OP No.1 within 45 days from the date of receipt of its certified copy, failing which OP No.1 shall be liable to pay the aforesaid amount of Rs.4,60,727/- i.e. Rs.4,10,727 + Rs.50,000 along with penal interest @18% per annum from the respective dates of deposit till the date of actual payment besides payment of Rs.10,000/- as costs of litigation. 17. Certified copy of this order be communicated to the parties, free of charge. After compliance file be consigned to record room. Announced. 21st May, 2012. Sd/- (LAKSHMAN SHARMA) PRESIDENT Sd/- (MADHU MUTNEJA) MEMBER Sd/- (JASWINDER SINGH SIDHU) MEMBER Ad/-
DISTRICT FORUM – II | CONSUMER COMPLAINT NO.348 OF 2010 | PRESENT: None. | ORDER Vide our detailed order of even date, recorded separately, the present complaint has been allowed. |
21.05.2012 | [J. S. SIDHU] | [LAKSHMAN SHARMA] | [MADHU MUTNEJA] | | MEMBER | PRESIDENT | MEMBER |
| | MRS. MADHU MUTNEJA, MEMBER | HONABLE MR. LAKSHMAN SHARMA, PRESIDENT | MR. JASWINDER SINGH SIDHU, MEMBER | |
