MR. JUSTICE V.K.JAIN, PRESIDING MEMBER (ORAL) The complainant/respondent obtained a bank guarantee bearing no. 36/12 from the appellant Central Bank of India, to the extent of Rs.5.19 lacs, on 23.01.1995. The aforesaid bank guarantee was extended vide letter dated 21.04.1997. The extension of the bank guarantee to the extent, it is relevant, reads as under: At the request of M/S RANE COMPUTERS CONSULTANCY LTD. we hereby extend the validity period of the above mentioned Guarantee by six months from Expiry date i.e. upto 21.10.97, with three months claim period on existing terms and conditions unless a suit or section to enforce claim under this Guarantee is filed against us in writing on or before 21.10.97. All your this Guarantee shall be forfeited and we shall released and discharged from all the liabilities thereunder. Notwithstanding to anything contained hereinabove, our liability under the above Guarantee is restricted to an amount of Rs.5.16 lacs and the Guarantee is valid upto 21-10-97 inclusive of claim period. Place: Mumbai Date: 21-4-97 2. The complainant sent a letter dated 21.10.1997 to the appellant bank making demand for payment under the guarantee. The demand having not been met, the complainant approached the concerned District Forum by way of a consumer complaint. 3. The complaint was resisted by the appellant bank which alleged that the bank guarantee was valid only till 21.10.1997 and no demand had been raised on or before 21.10.1997. 4. The District Forum having dismissed the complaint, the complainant approached the concerned State Commission by way of an appeal. Vide impugned order dated 04.09.2015, the State Commission allowed the appeal and directed payment of Rs.5.19 lacs with interest and compensation. Being aggrieved, the appellant bank is before this Commission by way of this appeal. 5. It would be seen from the extension of the bank guarantee dated 24.01.1997 that the bank guarantee was valid only till 21.10.1997 inclusive of the claim period. Therefore, unless a claim was made/lodged on or before 21.10.1997, the bank was not liable to make payment under the said bank guarantee. Therefore, the only question which arises for consideration in this appeal is as to whether the claim was made/raised by the complainant on or before 21.10.1997. In view of the bank having denied receipt of the claim on or before 21.10.1997 and having alleged that the demand was received by it only on 24.10.1997, the onus was upon the complainant to prove that the demand had actually been made on or before 21.10.1997. No acknowledgment dated 21.10.1997 from the petitioner bank was produced by the complainant before the fora below. However, in order to do complete justice between the parties, I directed the respondent/complainant, on the last date of hearing, to produce the original acknowledgement of the letter dated 21.10.1997 sent by it to the appellant. The learned counsel for the complainant expresses his inability to produce any such acknowledgment and he states that only a photocopy is available with the bank which bears the date of 24.10.1997 as the receiving date. The complaint thus, has failed to prove that it had invoked the bank guarantee on or before 21.10.1997. If the bank guarantee had been invoked on a subsequent date, the bank was not liable to honour the same. Therefore, no deficiency on the part of the bank in rendering services to the complainant is made out. The impugned order therefore, cannot be sustained and the same is accordingly set aside. The complaint is accordingly dismissed with no order as to costs. | 
