ORDER

(Per: Mr. D.K. Tyagi, Member):

This is an appeal under Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, filed by the appellant-complainant against the order dated 23.09.2008 passed by the District Forum, Dehradun in consumer complaint No. 62 of 2007.  By the order impugned, the District Forum has dismissed the consumer complaint.

2.       Briefly stated the facts of the case, as mentioned in the consumer complaint, are that the complainant has a Saving Bank A/c No. 329880 with the Post Office, Sayedwala Mohalla, Dehradun since 18.03.1995. The complainant had deposited a sum of Rs. 50,000/- in the said account on 01.04.2005 and the balance became Rs. 1,68,059.85 ps. Entry of this deposit was made in the pass-book by the Post Master. Since, 01.04.2005 to 02.11.2006, the transactions in this account were made and Rs. 1,01,571.40 ps. was the balance in the said account. The complainant had withdrawn             Rs. 1,00,000/- from the said account on 04.11.2006 and the balance became  Rs. 1,571.40 ps.  The complainant had deposited Rs. 1,00,000/- in the said account on 08/13/11/06, but Rs. 51,750/- alongwith interest were deducted and entry of Rs. 49,821.40 ps. as balance was made and the pass book was returned to the complainant. The complainant had made transactions of lakhs of rupees from 28.03.2005 to 08/13/11/06, even then no notice or information was given to the complainant regarding the wrong entry on 28.03.2005 in his account.  It is made clear that no counter file is provided by the Post Office at the time of deposit of money through slip.  Only a slip is filled and deposited in the Post Office and on the basis of that slip entries are made in the pass book of account holder.  After the said deduction by the Post Office, the complainant had sent complaints dated 05.12.2006, 26.12.2006, 19.01.2007, 02.03.2007 and 13.03.2007, which were acknowledged by the opposite parties.  The opposite party No. 3 set an enquiry regarding the balance of the complainant’s account, which was conducted by Sh. B.S. Rawat, Assistant Superintendent, Post Office, who was posted at office of Chief Post Master General, Uttarakhand Parimandal, Dehradun.  The enquiry report was also sent to the complainant, which is a false report.  That enquiry is conducted only to save the officials of the Postal Department.  In para No. 1 of enquiry report it is written that after withdrawal of Rs. 1,00,000/- on 04.11.2006 balance in the account of complainant was (Rs. -50,178.60), whereas there is no such entry in the pass book.  In para No. 2 of the enquiry report, it is mention that an amount of      Rs. 50,000/- was wrongly added on 28.03.2005, whereas there is an entry of Rs. 1,66,794.85 ps. in the ledger. It is also mentioned in the enquiry report that the Sub-Post Master, Sayedwala, Dehradun had deducted Rs. 50,000/- as well as Rs. 1,750/- as interest on 08.11.2006 after knowing the mistake of the department and also made entry about deduction of Rs. 51,750/- in the S.B. Ledger.  It is admitted in the enquiry report that there is an entry of Rs. 1,66,794.85 ps. in the S.B. Ledger as well as pass book.  It is also admitted that on 01.04.2005, there is an entry of Rs. 1,68,059.85 ps. in the S.B. Ledger and pass book.  It is wrong to say that due to clerical mistake entry of Rs. 50,000/- was made in the Sayedwala Post Office.  If the amount written in the S.B. Ledger and pass book is same, then it is wrong to say that the amount was increased due to clerical mistake.   It is admitted in the enquiry report that the deductions of Rs. 1,750/- is wrong. The complainant had not received any information between 28.03.2005 to 08.11.2006 in this regard.  Sub-Post Master has also not apprised the complainant in this regard.  Cause of action arose on 08.13.11.06 when the opposite parties deducted Rs. 51,750/- from complainant’s account, without any information and when the opposite party No. 3 ordered for enquiry then the official conducted an enquiry and submitted a false report.

3.       The opposite parties filed written statement before the District Forum and pleaded that the complainant had not deposited the amount of Rs. 50,000/- on 01.04.2005 in his SB account No. 329880.  It is evident from the entries in the pass-book of the complainant.  There is no such entry of Rs. 50,000/- in the pass-book.  It was only due to wrong calculation total was increased in the ledger.  There are several accounts of the complainant in the Sayedwala Sub-Post Office and interest of these accounts are regularly deposited in the complainant’s account.  There was a transaction of Rs. 380/- on 28.03.2005 in the MIS account of the complainant.  The counter assistant of the Sub-Post Office deposited this amount in the SB account and wrongly mentioned        Rs. 1,66,794.85 ps. in place of Rs. 1,16,794.85 ps. due to wrong total. On 01.04.2005, interest of Rs. 1,265/- in the SB ledger and entry of                     Rs. 1,68,059.85 ps. was written in place of Rs. 1,18,059.85 ps. The complainant had deposited Rs. 4,500/- in his account on 01.04.2005 and after deposition of this amount, the total was mentioned as Rs. 1,72,559.85 ps. whereas the total should be Rs. 1,22,559.85 ps. According to the complainant the balance in his pass book was Rs. 1,01,571.40 ps. on 02.11.2006 whereas in the Head Quarter Ledger of Sayedwala Sub-Post Office actual total was        Rs. 49,821.40 ps. Due to increasing of Rs. 50,000/- in the total of complainant’s account, the Sub-Post Master, Sayedwala had permitted the complainant to withdraw Rs. 1,00,000/- from his account whereas after withdrawal that amount in the SB Ledger of Head Post Office, Sayedwala, the total became (-)50,178.60, thus the Head Post Office directed and demanded the pass book of the said account for enquiry.  After that, the sub-post master came to know about the mistake of entries in the pass book of complainant’s account as well as in the SB Ledger.  It is pleaded that due to the mistake, Sub Post Office made entry of Rs. 50,000/- in the ledger on 28.03.2005.  The true fact is that the complainant had never deposited Rs. 50,000/- in the account, therefore, there is no entry in the pass book in this regard.  After knowing the mistake, it was recovered.  There is no deficiency on the part of the opposite parties. 

4.       The District Forum on an appreciation of the material on record, dismissed the consumer complaint No. 62 of 2007 vide order dated 23.09.2008.  Aggrieved by the said order, the appellant-complainant has filed the present appeal, thereby assailing the propriety and legality of the impugned order passed by the District Forum.

5.      We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have also gone through the record.

6.      There is no dispute regarding the fact that there has been a joint SB account No.  329880 of the complainant and his wife with the Sayedwala, Sub-Post Office since 18.03.1995.  The case of the complainant is that he deposited an amount of   Rs. 50,000/- in cash on 01.04.2005 in his account.  After deposition of that account the balance of that account became              Rs. 1,68,059.85 ps., which was entered in the pass book of said account, but after several transactions, on 08/13/11/06 Rs. 51,750/- were wrongly deducted by the Post Office, Sayedwala, Dehradun. 

7.      Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that he had deposited Rs. 50,000/- in his SB account on 01.04.02005 and it was shown in total in the pass book. Learned counsel also argued that there is no provision of counterfoil in the Sub-Post Office, Sayedwala, therefore, no counterfoil was provided at the time of deposition of money.  Only a slip was filled during the deposition of Rs. 50,000/-.

8.      Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent has argued that the appellant had never deposited Rs. 50,000/- on 01.04.2005.  There is no entry of deposition in the deposit column of the pass book as well as in the ledger.  Due to the mistake of the clerk concern, the total of balance was increased on 28.03.2005.  When the mistake of the entry of 28.03.2005 came in the knowledge of the Post Office, it was rectified by the concern post office by deducting Rs. 50,000/- alongwith interest of Rs. 1,750/- on 08/13/11/06 from the appellant’s account.

9.      Photocopy of pass book of SB account No. 329880 of the appellant is filed on record, which is at paper Nos. 4 to 9.  Copy of enquiry report of       Sh. B.S. Rawat is at paper Nos. 14 to 15 and copy of ledger of the SB account of appellant maintained in the Post Office, Sayedwala is at paper Nos. 39 to 45.  Respondent has filed the photocopy of ledger with respect to account No. 329880 maintained by the G.P.O., Dehradun.  The appellant has also filed original letter of Senior Post Master sent to the appellant (Paper No. 87) and certified copy of ledger of G.P.O., Dehradun with respect to the said account relating to Sayedwala Post Office (Paper Nos. 88 to 90).

10.    From the perusal of the pass book (Paper Nos. 4 to 9), it is evident that there is no entry in deposit column on 01.04.2005 regarding the amount of    Rs. 50,000/-, even then balance had increased from Rs. 1,16,794.85 ps. to     Rs. 1,68,059.85 ps.  The entries in the deposit column on 01.04.2005 shows that the appellant had deposited Rs. 1,265/- and Rs. 4,500/- as interest or in cash thereby balance had increased to Rs. 1,72,559.85 ps.  The ledger of Post Office, Sayedwala (Paper Nos. 39 to 45) shows that the appellant had withdrawn Rs. 5,305/- on 22.03.2005 and the balance became Rs. 1,16/414/- and on 28.03.2005 Rs. 380/- were deposited as interest and balance became Rs. 1,66,794.85 ps.  The appellant has never stated that he had deposited      Rs. 50,000/- on 28.03.2005.  This clearly indicates that the clerk concern of the Post Office, Sayedwala has wrongly mentioned Rs. 1,66,794.85 ps., while there is no evidence of deposition of Rs. 50,000/- by the appellant.  A parallel ledger maintained by the G.P.O., Dehradun regarding Post Office, Sayedwala (Paper Nos. 88 to 90) filed by the appellant also indicates the clear picture about the entries in SB account of the appellant.  According to the entries of this ledger, the appellant had never deposited Rs. 50,000/- as cash on 28.03.2005 or on 01.04.2005.  The appellant had deposited Rs. 4,500/- on 01.04.2005 and some small amounts of Rs. 380/- on 28.03.2005 and             Rs. 1,548.40 ps. and Rs. 1,265/- were deposited as interest in the said account of the appellant.  Apart from this, the appellant has neither filed any counterfoil of the slip of deposition, nor there is any entry of deposition of   Rs. 50,000/- in the pass book.  Sh. Bhopal Ram has filed affidavit before the District Forum and has deposed in para No. 6 that a counterfoil of slip is usually provided to the depositors, while depositing any amount in the Post Office.  As the mistake in total was came in the knowledge of the Post Office, when the appellant had withdrawn Rs. 1,00,000/- and the balance became        (-50,178/-).  Thereafter the Post Office had deducted Rs. 50,000/- as well as Rs. 1,750/- as interest from the account of the appellant.  On the complaint of the appellant, a departmental enquiry was conducted by Sh. B.S. Rawat of the office of Chief Post Master General, who has clearly mentioned that due to mistake of concern clerk of the Post Office, Sayedwala total in balance was increased, which was rectified after enquiry by the Post Office, Sayedwala.

11.     The District Forum has properly considered all the facts and circumstances of the case and has passed a reasoned order, which does not call for any interference.  The appeal lacks merit and is liable to be dismissed.

12.     For the reasons aforesaid, the appeal is dismissed.  The impugned judgment and order dated 23.09.2008 passed by the District Forum, Dehradun in consumer complaint No. 62 of 2007 is hereby confirmed.  No order as to costs.

(D.K. TYAGI)                                                      (JUSTICE B.C. KANDPAL)