Complainants Subash Soni and Gaurav Soni have filed the present complaint against opposite parties (for short O.P.) U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 with a prayer that opposite parties may be ordered to make  the payment of Rs.56,100/- alongwith interest @ 18% P.A. from the date of due, till its actual realization in their favour. Opposite parties be also directed to pay compensation alongwith litigation expenses on account of mental agony, physical harassment suffered by them from the hands of the opposite parties, in the interest of justice.

2.     The case of the complainant in brief is that they have got opened Joint R.D. (Recurring Deposit) under 5 Year P.O. Recurring Deposit Scheme on 11.12.2006 and as per the said scheme they would have to deposit Rs.5100/- per month for the continuous period of 5 years. In this way, they have started depositing monthly R.D. Installment of Rs.5100/- per month and in total they have deposited Rs.1,17,300/- with the opposite party no.3 i.e. 23 installments. After depositing 23 installment, they came to know that the acting Post Master in the office of opposite party no.3 at that point of time had not sent the vouchers and not forwarded the said amount to the office of opposite party no.1. Thereafter other persons who have also been suffered a lot of harassment and financial loss has approached to the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh by way of filing C.O.C.P. No.2768 of 2013. The complainant no.1 was also one of the petitioners in the said Writ Petition. In the said Writ petition, the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh has ordered the Department i.e. opposite party no.2 to take stern action against the guilty persons. The departments have also taken stern action against the guilty persons. Thereafter the said petition was disposed off vide order dated 6.8.2015 by giving liberty to the petitioners to proceed further with the matter in accordance with law vide its order dated 6.8.2015. They have next pleaded that the opposite party no.3 has assessed the amount of Rs.61,200/- and has given its maturity of Rs.85,000/- to them vide cheque bearing No.133964dated 19.9.2015 of State Bank of India but did not make the payment of Rs.56,100/- alongwith interest @ 18% P.A. from the date of due till its actual realization. They have number of times approached to the opposite parties and requested them to make the payment of Rs.56,100/- alongwith interest @ 18% P.A. from the date of due till its actual realization but the opposite parties always put the matter pending with one pretext or the other. Thus, there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. Hence this complaint.

3.      On notice, opposite parties appeared through their counsel and filed their joint contested written statement taking the preliminary objections that the complaint is not maintainable in the present form; the complainants have not come to the Forum with clean hands and filed the present complaint by concealing the true facts; this Hon’ble Forum has got no jurisdiction to entertain, try and decide the present complaint and the complainants have dragged the opposite parties into false and frivolous litigation, hence they are liable to be burdened with exemplary costs. On merits. It was submitted that the complainants opened an RD account No.131566 in the joint name of (1) Gourav Soni (2) Subhash Soni resident of 64 Abrol Nagar Pathankot through PMKBY Agent Smt.Usha Rani authority No.0240145 with initial deposit of Rs.5100/- for the month of December 2006. As per inquiries made into the case by the department vide No.INV-R-4-9/09 dated 24.04.2015, entries made in the Passbook on 31.12.2007, 31.01.2008, 28.02.2008, 31.03.2008, 30.4.2008, 31.5.2008, 30.6.2008, 31.7.2008, 30.8.2008, 30.9.2008 and 30.10.2008 were fictitious and Sh.Arun Kumar SAS Agent who was working for her mother Smt.Usha Rani MPKBY Agent, misappropriated amounts of 11 deposits @ Rs.5100/- amounting to Rs.56,100/- in RD account No.131566. The contention of the complainants that they had deposited Rs.5100/- per month by visiting the offices is not maintainable as the said RD account was opened through MPKBY Agent Smt.Usha Rani and the complainant Sh.Subhash Soni had admitted in his statment dated 14.1.2010 given to the investigating officers during the investigation of this fraud case that he made the payment of monthly deposits to Sh.Arun Kumar SAS Agent who was working for his mother Smt.Usha Rani MPKBY Agent. Thus the department is not responsible for the amounts paid by the depositors to the agents. It was next submitted that while the investigations in fraud case of Abrol Nagar Pathankot Sub Post Officer were under process, three petitioners Dr.Subash Soni son of Sh.Jyoti Parkash Soni, Sh.Sandeep Kumar son of Sh.Sukhdev Raj Dogra and Smt.Shakunta Devi W/o Sh.Harbans Sethi approached the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana Chandigarh and filed CWP No.4806 of 2012. The Hon’ble High Court passed the order dated 15.032012 that “The PMG Punjab Circe should be directed to look into the matter and in due inquiry, if the allegations are found to be correct, to take necessary action in accordance with law including of a complaint before the jurisdictional police station.” It was next submitted that the payment was made to the complainants as per the balance available with the Post Office i.e. Rs.61,200/- alongwith interest of Rs.24,300/- i.e. total amount of Rs.85,500/-. The amount of 11 deposits @ Rs.5100/- amounting to Rs.56100/- in RD Account No.131566 was misappropriated by Sh.Arun Kumar SAS Agent authority No.298745 who was not an employee of the Department of Post, but was appointed by the Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur. Thus the department is not responsible for the amounts paid by the depositors to the agents. The contention of the complainant that the matter was kept pending with one pretext or the other is not sustainable as the matter was very clear after the inquires made and facts related to this fraud case were also submitted before the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana in reply to the contempt petition No.COCP No.2768 of 2013 disposed off as infructuous on 6.8.2015 with the findings that the “Court is of the opinion that the orders by this Court have been complied with”. The complainants are very much aware of the same. All other averments made in the complaint has been vehemently denied and lastly prayed that the complaint may be dismissed with costs.

4.         Complainant tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.C-I, along with the other documents exhibited as Ex. C-2 to Ex.C-5 and closed the evidence.

5.     On the other hand, Sh.Shiv Lal Pubic Relation Inspector of opposite parties tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.OP1, alongwith the other documents Ex.OP2 to Ex.OP4, Mark A to Mark C and closed the evidence

6.       We have duly heard the learned counsels for both the sides in the back drop of the legally applicable merit of the supporting evidence/document(s) as produced by the litigating parties in order to statutorily resolve the inter-se dispute (under the C P Act’ 1986) prompting the present complaint. We find that the complainants have indeed deposited Rs.1,17,300/- (by way of 23 installments of Rs.5,100/-) in their RD A/c # 131566 with the OP3 Abrol Nagar Branch of the Post Office, at Pathankot; and there have been duly recorded related entries with the Post Office Stamp (duly affixed over these), in the Pass Book Ex.C2 & Ex.C3. But, the Post office have withheld back Rs. 56,100/- along with its accrued interest. Further, the OP Post Office authorities do admit (affidavit Ex.OP1) as ‘correct’ the ‘recording’ of the PB entries in the Pass Book but further describe these as having fraudulently ‘managed’ by the Post Office SAS Agent Arun Kumar in connivance with the MPKBY Agent Usha Rani (his mother) who, in fact, have misappropriated 11 nos. of installments amounting to Rs.56,100/- from this RD A/c of the present complainants besides defrauding many other ‘depositors’. The OPs have further stated that the actual deposited amount of Rs.61,200/- (balance left out as: 117,300 – 56,100 = 61,200) along with accrued interest of Rs.24,300/- aggregating to Rs.85,500/- stands duly paid through cheque Ex.C4 (as having duly admitted by the complainants).

7.       We find from the available records/evidence that the OP Post Office authorities refuse to shoulder any responsibility/liability/surety/promise or even assurance of payment of the unpaid (embezzled) amount of Rs.61,200/- claiming immunity to any liability against the Agents’ fraudulent act and also pleading that the Agents were appointed by the DC Gurdaspur and not by the OP department. It has also been pleaded that criminal action stands initiated against the ‘accused’ at the instance of the honorable Punjab & Haryana High Court and the High Court has subsequently observed satisfaction over the ‘compliance’ of its orders. The OP postal authorities do high light its ‘innocence’ and criminal action initiated against the accused offenders but somehow are conspicuously silent over the ‘consumer rights’ of the complainants and repayment of their money deposited with the state/ post office. We find that the postal authorities are fully liable to repay the amount that gets duly ‘recorded’ as having deposited in the consumer’s Pass Book with affixation of Postal Seals and signatures and that too through its own agents. The principal shall not be criminally liable for the criminal act of his agent but he cannot escape the civil/ monetary liability of the agent’s acts done in the official discharge of his routine duty. We are of the considered opinion that the OP postal authorities are liable to pay the ‘deposited’ amount as appearing in the related Pass Books as apparently ‘correct’ and apparently in ‘order’. After all, the complainants had no means to ‘discover’ the fraud and they simply relied upon the recorded entries (in their Pass Book) that the OP shall be liable to reimburse.

8.       In the light of the all above, we partly allow the present complaint and thus ORDER the opposite parties (postal authorities) to settle and pay the balance amount of Rs.56,100/- to the complainants along with the up to date accrued interest at the PO RD Rate besides to pay them Rs.10,000/- as litigation cost and compensation (for having suffered undue harassment for none of his fault) within 30 days of the receipt of the copy of these orders otherwise the aggregate awarded  amount shall carry an additional interest @ 9% PA from the date of orders till actual payment.

9.      Copy of the order be communicated to the parties free of charges. After compliance, file be consigned.               

                          (Naveen Puri)

                                                                                             President      

ANNOUNCED:                                                                     (Jagdeep Kaur)

May 20, 2016                                                                         Member

*MK*