Order dictated by:
Sh.S.S. Panesar, President.
1. Sh.Maninderpal Singh has brought the instant complaint under section 12 & 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 on the allegations that he is permanent resident of above said address and is peace loving and law abiding citizen of India; the complainant is consumer of the Opposite Parties under the definition of section 2(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act; the complainant is using landline phone/ connection No. 01835002498 alongwith Internet facility from Opposite Parties vide account No.2539263; the complainant had been regularly making payment of the bills to the Opposite Parties as per usage; that the complainant is using the said connection alongwith internet connection for doing his self employment work of Visa Consultancy under the name and style of Visa Wizards which he is running at SCF 9, 2nd Floor, C-Block Market, Above Pizza Italia, Amritsar and the said business of the complainant is totally dependent upon internet and said connection was the only source of livelihood of the complainant as he was dealing with Visa Consultancy service as already stated above; since 28.9.2015 till date, the said internet connection is disconnected and the complainant had moved number of complaints to the Opposite Parties especially to Mr.Sandeep employee in technical Branch and Dinesh Bedi and also on helpline number of Opposite Parties, but none of the request of the complainant has been acceded to by Opposite Parties till date; that due to disconnection of said connection, the business of the complainant is in complete loss as same is totally dependent upon internet and the complainant suffered loss approximately to the tune of Rs.3 lacs for no fault on his part, but due to the fault squarely lay with the Opposite Parties. It is worth while to mention over here that through whatsapp messenger the Opposite Parties, though had admitted that the complaint moved by complainant has been lodged, but even then no action has been taken, rather Opposite Parties in an illegal and unauthorized manner sent the bill to the complainant of the connection which has been disconnected; that by not acceding to the genuine and legitimate requests of the complainant, this act of the Opposite Parties clearly amounts to committing gross negligence and utter deficiency in providing services and thus a clear cut mal practice had been running by the Opposite Parties and as such, the Opposite Parties have caused mental harassment, tension, agony to the complainant and thus the complainant is legally entitled to compensation to the tune of Rs.50,000/- and there is no bar to the claim of the complainant in this regard. It is worth while to mention over here that the complainant after waiting for a long period and suffering loss to the tune of Rs.3 lacs in his business, as per details given above, has purchased/ got installed new internet connection of Airtel Company and thus the complainant is now no more interested to continue with the said connection of the Opposite Parties. The complainant has sought the following reliefs vide instant complaint:-
a) To direct the Opposite Parties to make the payment of Rs.3 lacs towards loss suffered by the complainant in his business.
b) To direct the Opposite Parties to pay Rs.50,000/- towards compensation for causing mental harassment, agony, etc. to the complainant.
c) To direct the Opposite Parties to pay a sum of Rs.11,000/- towards litigation expenses.
Hence, this complaint.
2. Upon notice, Opposite Parties appeared and contested the complaint by filing joint written statement taking preliminary objections therein inter alia that complaint as framed is not maintainable, as such the same is liable to be dismissed; the present complaint has been filed with a malafide intention to harass the Opposite Parties; that the complainant has no locus standi to file the present complaint as the complainant does not fall under the category/ definition of consumer as per the Consumer Protection Act. The complainant is running a company under the name and style of VISA WIZARDS and the connection in dispute has been installed by the Opposite Parties in the premises of SCF 9, 2nd Floor, C-Block Market, Above Pizza Italia, Amritsar and in the said office number of employees are working for the complainant and his company named above. Said fact has also been mentioned in the complaint itself by the complainant, but with malafide intention to file the present complaint, the complainant has given his other address in the complaint, which has no concern with the connection installed by the Opposite Parties to the complainant. Since the connection has been installed by the Opposite Parties in the premises of business where the complainant is running his company named above which is a totally business concern and as such, the present complaint before this Forum is not legally maintainable. Since the said telephone connection has been used by the complainant for his business purpose, hence the complainant does not fall under the definition of Consumer as per Consumer Protection Act. Wrong fact has been mentioned by the complainant in the present complaint, as such, complainant in hand is liable to be dismissed; that the complaint is not legally maintainable and is liable to be dismissed, as no cause of action has ever arisen in favour of the complainant against the answering Opposite Parties to file the present complaint and hence, the complaint under reply is an abuse of the process of law and as such, the same is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs; that the present complaint has been filed by the complainant to get undue advantage from the Opposite Parties; the answering Opposite Parties submit that the complainant has created a false story in his complaint to mislead this Forum by concocting and distorting the facts and circumstances of the present case and to get undue benefit from the replying Opposite Parties, the present complaint has been filed by the complainant against the Opposite Parties with malafide intention; that no mal practice has been adopted by the Opposite Parties as alleged in the present complaint. False complaint has been filed by the complainant by alleging false allegations in the present complaint. The Opposite Parties being service provider provide better facilities to its customers and to defame the reputation of the Opposite Parties, the present complaint has been filed by the complainant. The complaint is false one required dismissal with costs. There is no deficiency in service and mental tension to the complainant by the answering Opposite Parties; that the complainant has not come with the clean hands for redressal before this Forum and has suppressed the relevant and material facts from this Forum. As submitted above, the connection was got installed by the complainant in the premises situated at C-Block Market, Above Pizza Italia, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar for his business company running under the name and style of VISA WIZARDS and in the said company number of employees are working for the complainant and in the present complaint, it has been submitted that said connection installed by the Opposite Parties was the only source of livelihood of the complainant and the complainant is using the said connection for his self employment and on the other hand, it has been submitted that due to disconnection of the telephone, the complainant has suffered business loss to the tune of Rs.3 lacs, as such, the complaint before this Forum is not legally maintainable; that in the SAF (Subscriber Agreement Form) duly signed by the complainant at the time of installation of the connection, it has been informed to the complainant that in case of disconnection of the service due to some technical defect, the company is not liable for any action and the said terms and condition has been in very much knowledge of the complainant. As such, the complaint in hand is liable to be dismissed with costs; that the matter in dispute has already been compromised in between parties. In the month of January, 2016, there was outstanding amount of Rs.5241/- and as per the settlement arrived, the complainant has paid an amount of Rs.4000/- to the Opposite Parties on 14.1.2016 and for the remaining amount, waiver was given by the Opposite Parties to the complainant, but with malafide intention, the present complaint has not been withdrawn by the complainant. On merits, the facts narrated in the complaint have specifically been denied and a prayer for the dismissal of the complaint with costs was made.
3. In his bid to prove the case, complainant tendered into evidence affidavit Ex.CW1/A, copy of legal notice Ex.C1, postal recweipts Ex.C2 and Ex.C3, copy of bill dated 1.11.2015 Ex.C4, copy of bill dated 1.10.2015 Ex.C5, copy of print out of SMS details Ex.C6, copy of discharge summary Ex.C7, copy of e-mail Ex.C8 and close his evidence.
4. On the other hand, to rebut the evidence of the complainant, Opposite Parties tendered into evidence the affidavit of Ravinder Singh Ex.OP1, copy of attorney Ex.OP2, print out of internet site of VISA WIZARDS Ex.OP3, copy of SAF Ex.OP6, copy of driving licence Ex.OP7, copy of lease deed Ex.OP8, copy of form No.60 Ex.OP9, copy of brochure Ex.OP10, copy of commercial credit rating form Ex.OP11, copy of print out of internet site Ex.OP12 and closed the evidence.
5. We have heard the ld.counsel for the complainant and have carefully gone through the evidence on record.
6. On the basis of evidence on record, ld.counsel for the complainant has vehemently contended that it is an admitted fact that the complainant is subscriber of landline connection alongwith Internet facility from Opposite Parties at Amritsar and the complainant has been running Visa Consultancy and the telephone in dispute is the only source of livelihood for the complainant. The connection of the complainant has been wrongly disconnected by the Opposite Parties and on that account, the complainant has suffered loss to the tune of Rs.3lacs in his business. The Opposite Parties have indulged in mal-practice and unfair trade practice while disconnecting the connection of the complainant. The complainant has already got installed new connection from Airtel Company, but however the complainant is entitled to be compensated with damages to the tune of Rs.50,000/- besides an amount of Rs.3 lacs suffered by the complainant in his business. The complainant has also sought for litigation expenses to the tune of Rs.11,000/- from the Opposite Parties.
7. But however, from the appreciation of the facts and circumstances of the case, it becomes clear that the complainant has not approached this Forum with clean hands. The complainant has given his address i.e. “Maninderpal Singh son of Jagdish Singh, resident of 263-A, Imperial City Loharka Road, Amritsar”, which is a residential one. The connection in dispute has been installed at SCF 9, 2nd Floor, C-Block Market, Above Pizza Italia, Amritsar and the complainant has been running the Visa Consultancy under the name and style VISA WIZARDS, which is admittedly a commercial concern. It is the case of the Opposite Parties that number of employees are working there for running the said Visa Consultancy business of the complainant. The complainant in his complaint has also mentioned that he has suffered loss to the tune of Rs.3 lacs within a short span w.e.f. 28.9.2015 uptil the date of filing the complaint due to unauthorized disconnection at his business concern, by the Opposite Parties which shows that the business concern of the complainant is of high scale. The business run by the complainant can be treated to be a source of livelihood as claimed by the complainant. The complainant has failed to produce on record the annual turn over of the said Visa Consultancy Company for the reasons best known to him. It is settled principle of law that a person who seeks equity must do equity. But in the case in hand, the complainant is guilty of suppression of material fact. It is proved on record that the Opposite Parties have settled the matter with the complainant during the pendancy of the present complaint. In the month of January, 2016, there an was outstanding amount of Rs.5241/- and as per settlement arrived, the complainant has paid an amount of Rs.4000/- to the Opposite Parties on 14.1.2016 while the remaining due amount has been waived off. Once, the complainant having acquiesced to settlement arrived inter se parties, he is estopped from continuing with the complaint. The instant complaint is nothing, but an abuse of process of law. The complainant has already received a new connection from Airtel Company and is not interested in getting the connection restored from the Opposite Parties. In such a situation, the instant complaint is gross abuse of the process of law and as such, instant complaint fails and the same is ordered to be dismissed accordingly. Copies of the order be furnished to the parties free of costs. File is ordered to be consigned to the record room. Case could not be disposed of within the stipulated period due to heavy pendency of the cases in this Forum.
Announced in Open Forum
Dated: 03-08-2016
