JUDGMENT 15.9.2010 Justice Pritam Pal, President 1. This appeal by opposite party is directed against the order dated 13.4.2010 passed by District Consumer Forum-II, U.T. Chandigarh whereby complaint bearing No.1382 of 2009 filed by respondent/complainant was allowed with costs of Rs.5000/- and OP was directed to pay a sum of Rs.45000/- as purchase price of the cow besides Rs.10,000/- as compensation for physical harassment, mental agony and pain to the complainant on account of its refusal to settle the genuine insurance claim. 2. The parties hereinafter shall be referred to as per their status before the District Consumer Forum. 3. In nutshell, the facts as set out in the complaint are that the Complainant had purchased cows under the High Tech. Scheme of Govt. of Punjab by taking a loan from M/s Oriental Bank of Commerce. The cows were duly insured and were issued health certificates from the approved Veterinary Doctor, who inspected the cows at the time of taking insurance and found that all the cows were hale and hearty. The cows were insured vide Cover No. 433351, dated 10.2.2009 and Policy No. 2009/251 was effective from 10.02.2009 to 09.01.2010. Out of the cows purchased, one cow died on 19.02.2009 qua which the Complainant lodged an insurance claim with the OP seeking indemnification of loss sustained due to death of the animal for a sum of Rs.45,000/- being the purchase price of the cow. Ultimately the claim was repudiated by OP vide its letter dated 6.3.2009 on the ground that the cow had died within 15 days from the date of receipt of Policy and was not covered under the conditions of policy. A legal notice dated 26.8.2009 was also served upon OP, but to no avail. Hence, alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of OP, complainant filed complaint before the District Forum seeking directions to OP to pay Rs.45,000/- along with interest @18% p.a. plus damages of Rs.50,000/-. 4. On the other hand, OP contested the complaint before the District Forum by filing reply inter-alia stating therein that the claim of the complainant had been rightly repudiated in view of the exclusion clauses in the insurance policy, as the cattle of the Complainant died on the 9th day from the commencement of the policy due to heart ailment whereas first 15 days from the commencement of the policy were excluded in case of death of animal due to some disease. The complainant was made aware of the said policy condition at the time of taking of policy cover for the said cow. It was pleaded that there was no deficiency in service on the part of OP and a prayer was made for dismissal of the complaint. 5. The District Consumer Forum after going through the evidence and hearing the counsel for parties allowed the complaint as indicated in the opening part of this judgment. Aggrieved against the said order, OP has come up in this appeal. 6. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the file carefully. The only noticeable point of arguments raised on behalf of the appellant/OP is that here in the instant case the death of the animal occurred on the 9th day after the inception of the policy whereas notwithstanding anything with reference to cause of death, claim arising within 15 days from the date of covering of risk was expressly put in the exclusion clause . It was further argued that the District Forum had gone wrong in awarding Rs.10,000/- as compensation on the total amount of Rs.45000/- as the interest on the said amount would not exceed more than Rs.2000/-. On the other hand the counsel for complainant has repelled the above said arguments. 7. We have given our thoughtful consideration to the above submissions raised on behalf of the parties and find that here in the instant case admittedly two cows were insured with OP, out of which one cow died on the 9th day of commencement of the insurance coverage. The OP had repudiated the claim of complainant on exclusion clauses of the policy which are reproduced as under ; 7. EXCLUSIONS: a) Common Exclusions: xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx ix) Non-scheme claims arising due to diseases contracted within 15 days from the date of risk are not covered. 8. ADDITIONAL POLICY CONDITIONS (i) The provision of 15 days waiting period should be included as Policy Condition No. 8. The wording may be as under:- “The Company is not liable to pay the claim in the event of death of insured animal due to disease occurring within 15 days from the commencement of risk.” 8. Thus, according to OP the claim of the complainant was covered by the ‘exclusion clauses’, as quoted above, because the animal in question had died just on the 9th day from the date of commencement of the Policy, whereas the first 15 days starting with the date of commencement of the Policy were to be excluded in case of death of animal due to some disease. There is post mortem report issued by Dr. Joseph K. Masih who conducted postmortem on the dead body of the animal and stated the cause of death as “Cardio- Respiratory Failure” which means a “Heart Attack” and it is not a disease but a sort of medical accidental death. There is no evidence to prove that the cow had contracted any disease during the period of 15 days from the date of commencement of the Policy. Further it is also not disputed that the cow in question was medically checked and examined by the Veterinary Doctor of the OP before issuing the insurance policy and it was found to be quite hale and hearty at that time and no such symptoms were stated to be found by the concerned Veterinary Doctor appointed by the OP. Thus, the plea taken by the OP that the Cow had died within 15 days on account of its contracting some disease during that period is without any basis as there is no document on record or any evidence tendered by the OP showing that the insured animal had contracted any disease during the said period of fifteen days. 9. In view of the above discussion, we find no illegality in the impugned order which is well reasoned and justified in the given facts and circumstances of the case. Accordingly the appeal fails and same is hereby dismissed. Certified Copies of this order be sent to the parties, free of charge. The file be consigned to record room.
| | HON'BLE MRS. NEENA SANDHU, MEMBER | HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRITAM PAL, PRESIDENT | , | | 
