DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, PATIALA. Complaint No. CC/10/120 of 22.2.2010 Decided on: 6.9.2010 Harinder Kaur wife of Late S.Gurcharan Singh R/o Village Dhuhar,P.O.Daftriwala, Tehsil Patran District Patiala. -----------Complainant Versus The New India Assurance Co. Branch at Ist Floor, Opp.Income Tax Office, Leela Bhawan, Patiala, through its Divisional Manager. ----------Opposite party. Complaint under Sections 11 to 14 of the Consumer Protection Act. QUORUM Sh.Inderjit Singh, President Sh.Amarjit Singh Dhindsa,Member Smt.Neelam Gupta, Member Present: For the complainant: Sh. Jagidsh Sharma, Advocate For opposite party: Sh. Amit Gupta, Advocate ORDER SH.INDERJIT SINGH, PRESIDENT Complainant Harinder Kaur has brought this consumer complaint under Sections 11 to 14 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986 as amended up to date ( hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the opposite party fully detailed and described in the head note of the complaint. 2. As per averments made in the complaint the case of the complainant is like this:- That the husband of the complainant got himself insured from the opposite party’s company vide policy No.0705-00395. That the husband of the complainant died due to accident and is fully entitled to insured amount from the opposite party company. After the death of the husband of the complainant, the complainant made a representation to the opposite party demanding insurance claim being a legally wedded wife and nominee, but the claim was rejected by the opposite party on the illegal grounds that the insured was mentally disturbed and committed suicide which was not covered under the policy. That the husband of the complainant was mentally sound and fit and was respectable and leading person of the village Dhuhar.He was active member of Gurudwara Prabhandak committee. That the husband of the complainant was also a member of cooperative society in village Dhuhar. That the deceased was mentally sound and fit. This fact is confirmed from the following reasons:- i) That the deceased was regularly casting his vote in the village elections as well as in assembly elections. ii) That the deceased was a Karta of his family and was performing all the duties of his family affairs. iii) That the electricity and telephone bills are also in the name of the deceased, which clearly show that the deceased was mentally fit and was performing all his social duties. iv) That the deceased also took part in the auction proceedings conducted by the Gram Panchayat and gave a bid in that auction proceedings which shows that the deceased was mentally sound and fit as a person of sound mind only can participate in public auction. That the investigator of the insurance company prepared a false document that the deceased was mentally upset and got the signatures of the Sarpanch and Lambardar of village Dhuhar by fraud and concealment. That in the affidavits of the Sarpanch and Lambardar they have specifically stated that the investigator of the insurance company got their signatures fraudulently by saying that they were signing only as witness of his presence in the village Dhuhar. That moreover no such statement has ever been given by the complainant or her family members to the police authorities that Gurcharan Singh was mentally ill or upset. That the investigator has made false documents and report in favour of his company which caused illegal gain to the opposite party company and illegal loss to my client who is a poor widow lady with two minor children. That the complainant has suffered mental and physical agony because of the deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party. Hence this complaint. 3. Notice of the complaint was given to the opposite party, who appeared and filed the written reply contesting the claim of the complainant. It is alleged that there is absolutely nothing on the record which shows that Gurcharan Singh has died on account of any accident. Moreover, as per DDR No.13 dated 10.3.2008 PS Ghaggha District Patiala , the deceased had left the house on 6.3.2008 at about 6.30PM and has not returned back which clarified the abnormal nature and abnormal conduct of Gurcharan Singh and the dead body of Gurcharan Singh had been recovered from the Bhakhra Canal and there is absolutely no reason for the said Gurcharan Singh to jump into the Bhakhra canal except to commit suicide. The circumstantial evidence along with the other matters on record brought by Sh.Randhir Singh, investigator clearly prove that this is the case of suicide and is not covered by the policy in any manner and hence the claim of the complainant was duly repudiated by the company. All other averments made in the complaint have also been denied and has prayed that complaint be dismissed. 4. The parties in order to prove their case have tendered their respective evidence on the record. 5. The parties have not filed the written arguments. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have also gone through the record of the case carefully. 6. The case of the complainant is that her husband Gurcharan Singh got himself insured from the company of opposite party vide policy No.0705-00395. It is also the case of the complainant that her husband died due to an accident and she is fully entitled to the insured amount from the opposite party . It is also the case of the complainant that after the death of her husband she made a representation to the opposite party demanding insurance claim being a legally wedded wife and nominee, but the claim was rejected by the opposite party on the illegal grounds that the insured was mentally disturbed and committed suicide which was not covered under the policy. It is also the case of the complainant that her husband was mentally sound and fit and was a respectable and a leading person of the village. He was the active member of Gurudwara Prabhandak committee. It is also the case of the complainant that her husband was also a member of cooperative society in village . It is also the case of the complainant that the deceased was mentally sound and fit and he was regularly casting his vote in the village elections as well as in assembly elections. He was a Karta of his family and was performing all the duties of his family affairs. It is also the case of the complainant that the deceased also took part in the auction proceedings conducted by the Gram Panchayat and gave a bid in that auction proceedings which shows that he was mentally sound and fit as a person of sound mind only can participate in public auction. It is also the case of the complainant that the investigator of the insurance company prepared a false document that the deceased was mentally upset and got the signatures of the Sarpanch and Lambardar of village Dhuhar by fraud and concealment. It is also the case of the complainant that in the affidavits of the Sarpanch and Lambardar they have specifically stated that the investigator of the insurance company got their signatures fraudulently by saying that they were signing only as witness of his presence in the village and moreover no such statement has ever been given by her or her family members to the police authorities that Gurcharan Singh was mentally ill or upset. 7. Whereas the case of opposite party is that there is nothing on the record which may show that Gurcharan Singh had died on account of any accident. As per DDR,Ex.C8 dated 10.3.2008, the deceased had left the house on 6.3.2008 at about 6.30PM and has not returned back which clarifies the abnormal nature and abnormal conduct of Gurcharan Singh, deceased and the dead body of Gurcharan Singh had been recovered from the Bhakhra Canal and there was absolutely no reason for Gurcharan Singh to jump in the canal except to commit suicide. The circumstantial evidence along with the other matters on record brought by Sh.Randhir Singh, investigator clearly proved that this is a case of suicide and is not covered by the policy in any manner and hence the claim of the complainant was duly repudiated by the company. 8. We have considered the rival contentions of the parties. 9. The perusal of the letter,Ex.C1 dated 5.9.2008 would show that the claim of the complainant was repudiated by the opposite party on the ground that the deceased insured person was mentally disturbed and he had committed the suicide attempt which is not covered under the policy terms and conditions. 10. The perusal of the record would show that there is nothing on the record to prove that Gurcharan Singh, deceased was not mentally sound and fit except the report of Sh.Randhir Singh, Investigator. Rather on the other hand the complainant has been successfully in proving on record that deceased was a mentally sound and fit person by placing on record the resolution,Ex.C2 dated 22.5.2007 which shows that the deceased was an active member of Gurudwara Parbhandak Committee. The certificate, Ex.C3 issued by Gurudwara Tibi Sahib village Dhuhar also proves that Gurcharan Singh was an active member of Gurudwara Parbhandak Committee. The proceeding book,Ex.C6 shows that Gurcharan Singh deceased took active part in auction proceedings conducted by the Gram Panchyat and gave a bid in that auction proceedings which shows that he was mentally sound and fit. A person of sound mind only can participate in public auction. He was also a member of cooperative society in village Dhuhar. Sh.Randhir Singh, investigator has made a report that Dhanna Singh , Lambardar and Karnail Singh had told him that Gurcharan Singh husband of the complainant was mentally disturbed. However, the report of investigator is falsified by the affidavit,Ex.C9 filed by Dhanna Singh,affidavit,Ex.C10 filed by Ashok Kumar and affidavit,Ex.C11 filed by Harinder Singh. They all have deposed that husband of complainant was mentally sound and fit prior to his death. In other words the opposite party has failed to prove on record that Gurcharan Singh deceased was not mentally sound and fit. Rather on the other hand the complainant has been able to prove and establish on record that Gurcharan Singh deceased was mentally sound and a fit person prior to his death. The DDR,Ex.C8 recorded on 10.3.2008 in Police Station Ghaggha also does not indicate that Gurcharan Singh, deceased was missing since 6.3.2008 because of any disturbed mental condition. Rather the DDR proves that on 6.3.2008 at about 6.30 PM he had left the house after taking tea. The body of the deceased(Gurcharan Singh) was recovered from Bhakhra canal and postmortem was conducted on the body of Gurcharan Singh on 13.3.2008. The post mortem report although not exhibited on the record would show that the cause of death was due to drowning. From the collective evidence placed on record it is proved that death of Gurcharan Singh deceased was an accidental death due to drowning in the Bhakhra canal and there is no evidence on the record to prove that the deceased had committed suicide. Therefore, the claim of the complainant is fully covered under the policy. The opposite party was not justified in repudiating the claim of the complainant. 11. In the result we allow the complaint partly and direct the opposite party to pay the insurance amount (Rs.One lac) to the complainant along with interest @7% per annum from the date of death till payment with another sum of Rs.5000/- as compensation inclusive of costs for harassment inconvenience and mental torture within a period of one month from the receipt of copy of the order. The copy of this order be sent to the parties as per rules. File be consigned to the record. Pronounced. Dated:6.9.2010. President Member Member
| | Mr. Amarjit Singh Dhindsa, Member | HONABLE MR. Inderjit Singh, PRESIDENT | Smt. Neelam Gupta, Member | | 
