BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, MOGA. Complaint No.01 of 2008. Instituted On: 01.01.2008. Date of Service: 25.01.2008. Decided On: 23.05.2008. 1. Baljinder Kaur (aged 40 years) widow of Sardool Singh son of Ajmer Singh. 2. Kuljit Kaur (aged 18 years) daughter. 3. Karamjit Kaur (aged 14 years) minor daughter 4. Gurshavidner Singh (aged 16 years) minor son of Sardool Singh son of Ajmer Singh (complainant no.3 and 4 through their mother Baljinder Kaur complainant no.1 as guardian) 5. Ajmer Singh (aged 70 years) son of Pala Singh son of Prem Singh father of deceased Sardool Singh all residents of Village Mahla Kalan, Tehsil & Distt.Moga. Complainants. Versus 1. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited SCO 24-15, Sector 8C, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh through Regional Manager. 2. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, Birla Tower, 5 Floor, 25 Bara Khamba Road, New Delhi through Director. 3. The Moga Central Co-operative Bank Limited,Branch Office VPO Mahla Kalan, Tehsil & Distt.Moga through its Branch Manager. Opposite Parties. Complaint under section 12 of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Quorum: Sh.J.S.Chawla, President. Smt.Bhupinder Kaur, Member. Present: Sh.R.K.Goyal, Adv.counsel for the complainant. Sh.H.S.Lodhi, Adv.counsel for OPs no.1 and 2. Sh.Satinder Pal Singh Gill, Adv.counsel for OP-3 (J.S.CHAWLA, PRESIDENT) Smt.Baljinder Kaur and others- complainants have filed the present under section 12 of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (herein-after referred to as Act) against ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited SCO 24-15, Sector 8C, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh through Regional Manager (hereinafter referred to as ICICI Lombard) and others directing them to pay Rs.2 lacs against policy no.4005/0003956 relating to Sardool Singh and Rs.1 lac as compensation on account of deficiency in service/ mental agony/ illegal harassment alongwith interest besides costs of complaint. 2. Briefly stated, Sardool Singh son of Ajmer Singh resident of village Mahla Kalan, Tehsil & Distt.Moga was the husband of complainant no.1, father of complainants no.2 to 4 and son of complainant no.5 who died on 11.03.2006. Said Sardool Singh had saving bank account no.121 with OP3-Co-operative Bank. Said Sardool Singh was insured with OPs-ICICI Lombard through OP3-Co-operative Bank for Rs.1 lac vide policy no.4005/0003956. That Baljinder Kaur complainant no.1 was mentioned as nominee in the said policy. That on 22.2.2006 when Sardool Singh was bringing fodder for his cattle from the fields, he fell down suddenly in the water drain and due to fall, he suffered spine/ back bone and head injuries. He was taken to DMC & Hospital Ludhiana where he was medically treated vide admission no. 2006/4765. Ultimately his condition deteriorated and he died on 11.3.2006. That the complainants are illiterate persons and after the bhog ceremony of Sardool Singh, they lodged claim with OPs-ICICI Lombard on account of accidental death of Sardool Singh requesting them to pay the insurance amount of Rs.1 lac but to no effect. Hence the present complaint. 3. Notice of the complaint was given to the OPs. OP1 and 2-ICICI Lombard appeared through Sh.H.S.Lodhi Advocate whereas OP3-Co-operative Bank appeared through Sh.SPS Gill Advocate and they filed their separate written replies contesting the same. 4. OPs1 and 2-ICICI Lombard took up preliminary objections that the complainants have concealed the material facts from the knowledge of this Forum; that the complicated and complex questions of law and facts are involved in the present case; that the complainants have violated the terms and conditions of the policy because they have failed to submit the police report/ FIR and post mortem report of deceased Sardool Singh which are mandatory. So the complainants could not establish that Sardool Singh died due to accidental injuries and therefore, the complainants are not entitled to any compensation vide the aforesaid policy; that the complainants have got no locus standie or cause of action to file the present complaint; that the complaint is not maintainable in the present form and that the complaint is false, frivolous and vexatious to the knowledge of the complainants. On merits, it was averred that the complainants never got conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Sardool Singh to establish his cause of death. Thus there is violation of terms and conditions of the policy and so no claim is payable. The alleged DDR lodged by the complainants was concocted version and made only to get the compensation. All other allegations contained in the complaint were denied being wrong and incorrect. Hence, it was prayed that the complaint being false and frivolous has no merit and it deserves dismissal. 5. OP3-Co-operative Bank in their separate written reply took up preliminary objections that the complaint is not maintainable in the present form and that the complainants have no locus standie to file the present complaint. On merits, it was admitted that Baljinder Kaur complainant no.1 was appointed as nominee by Sardool Singh deceased. It was averred that the complainants have not supplied the copy of FIR and post mortem report to them. According to the instructions of the answering OP, the complainants should have informed the bank within two days from the date of occurrence and to submit the post mortem repot and FIR to the concerned bank, but they did not submit these documents to the answering OP. All other allegations contained in the complaint are wrong and denied. Hence, it was prayed that the complaint filed by the complainant has no merit and it deserves dismissal. 6. In order to prove their case, the complainants tendered in evidence affidavit of complainant no.1 Ex.A1, affidavit of Major Singh Ex.A2, affidavit of Gurcharan Singh Ex.A3, copies of bills Ex.A4 to Ex.A37, copy of police report Ex.A38, copy of pass book Ex.A39, copy of medical certificate Ex.A40, copy of Lama summary Ex.A41, copy of death certificate Ex.A42, copy of letter Ex.A43, copy of letter of complainant Ex.A44, copies of postal receipts Ex.A45 and Ex.A46, copy of DDR Ex.A47 and closed their evidence. 7. To rebut the evidence of the complainants, the OPs no.1 to 2-ICICI Lombard tendered the affidavit Ex.R1 of Sh.Sat Parkash, copy of policy Ex.R2, copy of terms and conditions Ex.R3, copy of repudiation letter Ex.R4 and closed their evidence. Similarly, OP3-Co-operataive Bank tendered the affidavit Ex.R5 of Harminder Pal Singh Branch Manager and closed their evidence. 8. We have heard the arguments of Sh.R.K.Goyal ld. counsel for the complainant, Sh.H.S.Lodhi ld. counsel for the OPs1 & 2-ICICI Lombard and Sh.SPS Gill ld.counsel for OP3-Co-operative Bank and have very carefully perused the evidence on the file. 9. Sh.R.K.Goyal ld.counsel for the complainants has mainly argued that the OPs no.1 & 2-ICICI Lombard are deficient in rendering services because they have failed to give the insurance claim of Sardool Singh, husband of complainant no.1, father of complainants no.2 to 4 and father of complainant no.5. This contention of the ld.counsel for the complainants has some merit. Admittedly, Sardool Singh had saving bank account no. 121 with OP3-Co-operative Bank. At the time of opening of the said account, Sardool Singh was insured against accidental death for Rs.1 lac with OPs1 & 2-ICICI Lombard. According to the complainants case, said Sardool Singh died on 11.03.2006 due to accidental injuries by falling down in the water drain when he was coming back from his fields after bringing fodder for his cattle. He was taken to DMC & Hospital Ludhiana for treatment, but ultimately he died. The complainants lodged the claim of death of Sardool Singh, but the OPs 1 & 2-ICICI Lombard did not grant them the insurance claim. However, on the other hand, it has been argued by ld.counsel for OPs that the complainants have failed to submit them the police report/ FIR and post mortem report of deceased Sardool Singh which are mandatory and without the aforesaid documents they were unable to process their claim. This fact has been conceded by ld.counsel for the complainants. Thus, in the absence of aforesaid documents, the OPs 1 & 2-ICICI Lombard has been failed to process the claim of the complainants regarding the accidental death of Sardool Singh. Thus, the present complaint filed by the complainants is pre-mature because the OPs can not process their claim due to lack of aforesaid documents. In case the complainant did not get conducted the post mortem on the dead body of Sardool Singh, they should produce his death certificate and other documents relating to his death. However, it is conceded that after his death, the complainant got recorded DDR with the police. The matter was also investigated by the local police who submitted their report regarding the cause of death of Sardool Singh. So the complainants should submit the aforesaid documents available with them with the OPs1 & 2-ICICI Lombard for processing their claim. 10. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, the complaint filed by the complainant is partly accepted. The complainants are directed to submit the documents relating to death/post mortem and DDR/FIR relating to the death of Sardool Singh to OP3-Co-operative Bank within 15 days from the receipt of this order. OP3-Co-operative Bank shall further forward the same immediately to OPs 1 and 2-ICICI Lombard for processing the claim of the complainants and they shall decide the same as per law within two months from the receipt of documents from OP3-Co-operative Bank. Keeping in view the peculiar circumstances of the case, the parties are left to bear their own costs. Copies of the order be sent to the parties free of cost and thereafter, the file be consigned to the record room. (Bhupinder Kaur) (J.S.Chawla) Member President Announced in Open Forum. Dated:23.05.2008.
