Per – Hon’ble Mr. S. R. Khanzode, Judicial Member
Heard Adv. A. S. Vidyarthi on behalf of the Appellant and Adv. Dinesh B. Rai on behalf of the Respondent.
[2] Consequent to condonation of delay in filing the appeal, the appeal is admitted and heard forthwith with the consent of both the parties.
[3] This appeal takes an exception to an order dated 15/5/2010, passed by the Additional Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (‘the Forum’ in short) in Consumer Complaint No.337 of 2007, Mr. Akhtar Mohammed Hussain Vs. New India Assurance Company Ltd. It is a consumer complaint alleging deficiency in service on the part of the Respondent/ original Opponent (hereinafter referred to as ‘the insurance company’ for the sake of brevity) for arbitrarily repudiating the insurance claim which arose out of the incident of theft of the insured vehicle. It is alleged that the insured vehicle i.e. ‘Mahindra Scorpio’ bearing RTO Registration No.MH-06-W-1173 when was parked outside the housing complex, it was stolen on 18/2/2006. Report of the theft was immediately given to the police on the same day, which on investigation, categorized the offence as ‘true but, the accused was not traced’ and accordingly, ‘A’-Summary was issued. Thereafter, the insurance claim for total loss was lodged with the insurance company. The insurance company found that the Respondent/ original Complainant (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Complainant’ for the sake of brevity) who was the insured had no insurable interest on the date of the incident of theft and accordingly, repudiated the claim. Feeling aggrieved thereby, a consumer complaint was filed, which came to be partly allowed and feeling aggrieved thereby insurance company preferred this appeal.
[4] Admittedly, in the registration book the insured vehicle still stands in the name of the Respondent/original Complainant. It is also an undisputed fact that the insured vehicle was hypothecated with the finance company and the vehicle cannot be transferred without their no objection. The insured vehicle was stolen two days after the insurance policy was taken. Only on the basis of statement in F.I.R., given by the informant, namely – Mr. Umashankar Bhagwatprasad Pathak, the insurance company inferred that the insured vehicle was transferred or sold to the said informant. However, the insurance company further ignored the clarificatory statement of the said informant that the Complainant handed over the insured vehicle to the said informant in friendship. It is not the case of the informant that he has purchased the insured vehicle and, therefore, he possessed the same. In the circumstances, summarization of the insurance company to repudiate the claim was against the record and thus, arbitrary. Hence, deficiency in service on the part of the insurance company is well-inferred by the Forum and we endorse the said finding. The Complainant himself did not file any appeal and thus, conceded to the compensation awarded. We find no reason to take a different view than what has been taken by the Forum. Thus, finding the appeal devoid of any substance, we pass the following order:-
ORDER
The appeal stands dismissed.
In the given circumstances, both the parties to bear their own costs.
At this stage, it is requested on behalf of the Appellant that the amount deposited as a condition of stay and under Section-15 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 may not be disbursed in favour of the Respondent/original Complainant till the period to file a revision before the Hon’ble National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is over and subject to the decision of the Hon’ble National Commission in case the revision is filed. We accordingly direct that the amount so deposited, supra, be not released in favour of the Respondent unless the period to file a revision before the Hon’ble National Commission is over and further subject to the orders of the Hon’ble National Commission, if any, in case the revision is filed.
Copy of this order be given to the parties as per the rules and one copy be sent to the Forum.
Pronounced and dictated on 22nd November, 2011
