DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,JAMMU
Constituted under J&K Consumer Protection Act 1987
Case File No 40/DFJ
Date of Institution 26/04/2016
Date of Decision 06/02/2018
Virinder Kumar Gupta
S/O ShTirath Ram Gupta
R/O Trikuta NagarJammu
Complainant
V/S
National Insurance CoLtd
Through its Branch Manager
Volga Complex Canal Road Jammu
Opposite party
CORAM
Khalil Choudhary Distt and Sessions Judge President
Ms Vijay Angral Member
Mr Ghulam Sarwar Chauhan Member
In the matter of/Complaint under section 10 of J&K Consumer
Protection Act 1987
Mr Tarun Mahajan Advocate for complainant present
S Baldev Singh Advocate for OP present
ORDER
Facts relevant for the disposal of complaint on hand are that complainant being registered owner of Truck bearing registration No JK02AF got same insured with OP valid from 28/06/2013 to 27/06/2014 after paying the premium amount of Rs 23050 and the value of the vehicle was declared by OP is RS 675000 copy of insurance certificate and other certificates are annexed as Annexure-A According to complainanton6/05/2014 when insured vehicle was on its way from Jammu to Doda for unloading material and when reached near Village Gaon Marmath it met with accident and fell into deep nallah along the road and it is important to mention here that the vehicle was fell down almost 1 kilometer deep from the road it was humanly not possible to recover the vehicle from the deep nallah whereby the vehicle has been totally damaged and scattered into pieces The complainant further submitted that all the documents of the vehicle were kept in the vehicle itself in the custody of driver were lost during accident copy of FIR registered by Police Station is annexed as Annexure/B and OP was also informed about the accident and for indemnification of loss and also requested for appointing surveyor to assess the loss Complainant further submitted that in reply to intimation the OP had made a communication vide letter dated 25/11/2014 and 16/12/2014 wherein the OP had demanded some documents pertaining to vehicle despite knowing the fact that all the documents were lost and it is not possible to provide the same to OP however the complainant has submitted photocopies of documents to OP copy of letter is annexed as Annexure/C That the complainant in order to provide documents to OP had visited the office of concerned authority but the attempt of complainant did not yield any fruitful result as such he was refused to provide any document by the concerned authority however the complainant after that filed RTI application through his advocate to the concerned authority for providing him the document of the vehicle, but the concerned authority did not respond to the RTI application consequently the complainant filed 1st appeal before the appellant authority wherein the appellate authority has directed the PIO RTO Jammu to provide information to the complainant within 3 days positively It is important to mention here that even after the direction of appellant authority to the PIO the PIO did not reply the RTI application till date and in the meantime the complainant wrote a letter to OP that he will provide all the documents at the earliest as per their demand Further submission of complainant is that made all possible attempts to provide documents to OPs so that he can get the compensation against the loss incurred by him due to accident of vehicle but Op did not settle the claim despite repeated requests. Therefore for the act of deficiency in service on the part of OP complainant approached this Forum seeking indemnification of loss to the tune of Rs 675000/ as IDV of the vehicle plus Rs23050/ as premium amount and in addition prays for compensation to the tune of Rs 2/50 lacs
On the other hand OP filed written version and while and while admitting the insurance of vehicle in question and accident during currency of insurance policy went on to submit that vide letters dated 25/11/2014 and 16/12/2014 and finally on 09/02/2015 complainant was asked by the office of OP to submit requisite documents as required to see the genuineness and settlement of claim but the complainant failed to submit the said requisite documents till date and filed the present complaint resulting the claim of complainant has not been processed in the absence of documents, hence closed Lastly it is prayed that complaint is liable to be dismissed
Complainant adduced evidence by way of duly sworn evidence affidavit and affidavit of Balbir Gupta Complainant has placed on record copy of Insurance Policy copy of registration certificate copy of FIR and copies of communications exchanged between the parties
On the other hand OP adduced evidence by way of duly sworn evidence affidavit of Vijay Abrol Divisional Manager National Insurance Co Ltd OP has placed on record copies of communications exchanged between the parties
We have perused case file and heard L/Cs appearing for the parties at length
After hearing L/Cs for parties and perusing the case file the point for consideration is as to whether or not OP is deficient in service in not settling the case of the complainant
Before heading further it is to be noted that since parties have lead evidence in the shape of evidence affidavits, which are much or less reproduction of contents of their respective pleadings therefore we do not feel it necessary to represent the same again and if need arises same would be referred hereinafter at appropriate stage
L/C for complainant vehemently argued that since the vehicle of complainant fell down almost 1 kilometer deep from the road it was not humanly possible to recover the vehicle from the deep nallah and all the documents of the vehicle were kept in the vehicle were also lost during accident however photocopies of documents were provided to OP but the OP did not settle the claim of complainant therefore same constitutes deficiency in service On the other hand submission of L/C for OP is that despite repeated communications complainant failed to submit requisite documents and the claim of compliant has not been processed in absence of requisite documents
Be it noted that in so far as insurance of vehicle in question and its loss during currency of policy is concerned same are not in dispute According to complainant insured vehicle suffered total loss It is further to be noted that complainant has led evidence in the form of duly sworn his own affidavit and affidavit of Balbir Gupta S/O Late Sh Harbans Lal Gupta wherein the deponent deposed that the deponent is a business man by profession That on 26/05/2014 at about 9 30 pm the deponent was coming back from Doda and going towards Jammu, when the deponent reached near Village Goan Marmath Doda where a truck bearing registration No JK02AF/3365 coming from opposite direction i.e. from Jammu to Doda reached near Village Goan Marmath Doda then suddenly the road was collapsed due to which the above said vehicle was fell into the deep gorge/nallah which is almost 1 km deep from the road That the deponent further submits that it was humanly not possible to excavate/recover the said vehicle from the deep nallah whereby the said vehicle truckwas totally damaged and shattered into pieces and got total loss That the deponent alongwith local people of the vicinity has made all adequate attempt to recover the said vehicle from the nallah but totally failed to recover the said vehicle That after the accident the deponent came to know that the said vehicle was registered in the name of his friend namely Virender Gupta then deponent informed about the said accident There is no rebuttal at all by the Insurance Company to such averments
Admittedly the accident has occurred on 26/05/2014 during the validity of Insurance Policy taken on 21/02/2015 insuring the vehicle for Rs675000/ on a premium of Rs 23050/ Once it has been shown that vehicle was comprehensively insured and it was damaged in accident during currency of Insurance Policy in that event Op is not expected to devoid the benefits of Insurance Policy to the insured on technical grounds which are short of fundamental breach of contract of indemnity
Otherwise also legally speaking it is settled law that the parties are always bound and governed by the terms and conditions of contract and whenever contract is entered into there is proposal made by one party in its unequivocal and unambiguous terms conveyed to the otherside and acted by otherside with the same response and in its understanding and knowledge leaving no scope of any future suspicion and incredibility in mind to come in the way of the said contract afterwards
Further also to make it more clear as for as the terms of the policy are concerned reliance can be had to judgment in case titled Indraprastha Gas Ltd V/S New India Assurance CoLtd and Ors reported in 1 /2015CPJ 279 NC wherein the relevant para it is laid down
The court has to give material meaning to the document It is not open to the court to make any addition to or subtraction from the terms and conditions contained in Insurance Policy
Complainant has placed on record copy of insurance policy whereby IDV of vehicle is declared to the tune of Rs675000/ and it has proved by complainant that insured vehicle was totally damaged therefore complainant is entitled to IDV of vehicle
It is needful to recall the judgment of Honble Supreme Court passed Oriental Insurance Company Ltd V/S M/S Ozma Shipping Co and Anr 2010 AIR SCW 514
Before parting with this case we would like to observe that the insurance companies in genuine and bona fide claims of the insured should not adopt the attitude of avoiding payments on one pretext or the other This attitude puts a serious question mark on their credibility and trustworthiness of the insurance companies Incidentally by adopting honest approach and attitude the insurance companies would be able to save enormous litigation costs and the interest liability
Therefore in view of the foregoing reasons the complaint filed by the complainants for redressal of her grievance is allowed and OP is directed to pay to the complainant the insured amount of Rs 675000/ ie total IDV alongwith interest at the rate 7 percent per annum wef 26/04/2016 ie from the date of filing of this complaint till its realization The complainant is also entitled to compensation of Rs5000/for causing unnecessary harassment and mental agony and litigation charges of Rs5000/ The OP shall comply the order within one month from the date of receipt of this order Copy of this order be provided to both the parties as per requirement of the Act On deposit of the amount in this Forum the same shall be paid to the complainant through payees account cheque The complaint is accordingly disposed of and file be consigned to records after its due compilation
Order per President Khalil Choudhary
(Distt and Sessions Judge)
Announced President
06/02/2018 District Consumer Forum
Agreed by Jammu
Ms Vijay Angral
Member
Mr Ghulam Sarwar Chauhan
Member
