Sri. Apurba Kr. Ghosh        ..............President

The complainant has filed this case against the OP’s and praying for the following relief / orders:-

Direction against the O.Ps. to pay a sum of Rupees 50,00,000/-( Rupees Fifty Lacs ) only to the petitioner as compensation towards the unavailability / lost of the Original Deed of conveyance due to negligence of the O.P .

Brief Fact of the Complaint

1. That the complainant took HBL account 11051019960 from L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch for the purpose of purchase of house Property and on completion of Registration L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch. kept the IGR(No. 329811 date 17/05/2004) in original in their custody as the petitioner mortgage the House property before the L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch  and they said that they will collect the original deed of convenience from the office of the ADSR, Rajgang, Dist Jalpaiguri by submitting the original IGR and will kept original Deed of convenience till the repayment of outstanding loan and after repayment of outstanding loan they will return back the original Deed of conveyance .
2. That the petitioner clear all the outstanding loan amount on 05/05/2022 and asked to return back of entire mortgaged papers and documents including the deed of conveyance but L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch  returned that IGR in original and L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch forgot to collect the original Deed of Conveyance from ADSR, Rajganj and asked the petitioner to collect the Deed of Conveyance from ADSR, Rajganj.
3. That although the petitioner refused to receive the original IGR but L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch said that they are not bound to collect the original deed of conveyance from the Concerned office.
4. That in the IGR it has been clearly written that if find unclaimed for more than two yrs those Deed can be destroyed as per Law and the property was registered on 17/05/2004 so the petitioner cannot claim his original Deed of conveyance from the ADSR, Rajganj.
5. That the petitioner on several occasion visited the office of the ADSR, Rajganj but failed to receive the original Deed of conveyance on production of Original IGR
6. That from the said fact of the Op’s it is clear that the L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch is the defaulter and in spite of the petitioner visited several times in the Branch of Lic Housing finance Ltd. and inform the matter, demanded original Deed of conveyance but the L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch refused to receive the letter and after that on 10/08/2022 through Speed Post the petitioner sent a letter claiming for return of original Deed of conveyance and the said letter was receive by the L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch on 16/08/2022 and due to negligent act on the part of the O P’s the petitioner has been suffering a huge financial Loss.
7. That the petitioner suffered mental pain and agony due to loss of his original Deed of conveyance and no financial institutions are interested to provide loan due to non availability of original Deed of conveyance.
8. That the petitioner has suffered irreparable loss of his business due to loss of original deed of conveyance and he sustained loss of business profit amounting to rupees 40,00,000/ and also loss for  mental agony amounting to Rs 10,00,000/.

In support of the complaint the petitioner has filed the following documents :-

1.  Copy of IGR ( Annexure- A) ,
2.  Copy of Letter ( Annexure- B ) ,
3. Speed Post Track Report ( Annexure – C) ,
4. No Due Certificate ( Annexure- D) .

Notice was issued from this Commission for the O.P’s which were duly served. Despite receiving notice the O.P’s did not turned up before this Commission to contest this case. Accordingly, this case is taken up  for ex-parte hearing against the O.P’s .

Having heard the Ld. Advocate of the complainant and on perusal of the Complaint, as well as documents filed by the complainant the following points are take to be decided by this Commission.

          Points for consideration                 

1. Whether the complainant is a consumer?
2. Whether the case is maintainable under the C.P. Act 2019?
3. Whether there is any deficiency in service on the part of the O.P’s. as alleged by the Complainant?
4. Whether the Complainant is entitled to get any award and relief as prayed for as per the prayer of his Complaint?

Decision with Reasons

All the points are taken up together for discussion to avoid unnecessary repetition and for sake of convenience and brevity of this case.

In order to prove the case the Complainant has filed Written Deposition in Chief in the form an Affidavit wherein the Complainant has categorically stated and corroborated the contents of the Complaint. In the Deposition the Complainant has stated that, he took HBL from the O.Ps. for the purpose of purchasing of house property and after completion of registration the O.P L.I.C Housing Finance Ltd. Siliguri Branch  kept the original IGR with them. It also stated in the evidence in chief of the petitioner that the OP’s told the petitioner that they will collect the Original Deed of Conveyance from the ADSR, Rajganj and after payment of outstanding loan amount they will hand over the original Deed of Conveyance to the complainant. In the written deposition the petitioner has further stated that on 05/05/2022 he cleared all the outstanding dues of the OP’s and for which they issued clearance certificate in favor of petitioner along with the original IGR. The petitioner has also proved before this Commission that, after payment of entire loan amount/ outstanding he requested the O.Ps for handing over the original deed of conveyance but the O.Ps without handing over the said deed of conveyance forcefully handed over the IGR to the petitioner. It was their duty to collect the Original Deed of Conveyance from the ADSR, Rajganj which they ignored. It is admitted fact from the record that the petitioner has filed the IGR before this Commission where it is clearly mentioned that if the Original Deed is not collected from the Office of the ADSR, they will destroy the same. But even then the O.Ps did not take any initiative for collecting the Original Deed of Conveyance from the concerned office though it was their full knowledge that they received the Original IGR from the petitioner at the time of disbursing loan amount and in the IGR it was clearly written that if the Original Deed is not collected within two years from the date of registration of the deed the same will be destroyed and that not collecting the Original Deed of Conveyance from the ADSR office by the OP’s  are the instance of clear deficiency in service on the part of the OPs who deliberately ignored to collect the original deed from the concerned office. 

Considering the unchallenged evidence of the petitioner and considering the documents filed by the petitioner and other material in record we are of the view that the petitioner has been able to prove the case against the OPs. Both the OPs are jointly and severally liable to pay the awarded amount to the petitioner.

Hence,

      It is therefore,

                                                ORDERED

That, the instant Consumer Case being no. 33/2023 is hereby allowed in part on ex-parte against both the OP’s . Both the OPs are directed to pay a sum of Rs. 4,00,000/- (Rupees Four Lakh) only to the petitioner towards compensation for deficiency in service on the part of the OPs who deliberately did not collect the original Deed of Conveyance from the office of the ADSR, Rajganj knowing fully well aware that they assured the petitioner to collect the said deed and that’s why took the original IGR form the petitioner. The OPs are also directed to pay litigation cost of Rs. 10,000/-(Rupees Ten Thousand) only to the petitioner as cost of the legal proceedings. The OP’s are further directed to pay the sum of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) only in the Consumer Legal Aid account of this Commission.

Both the OPs are directed to pay the awarded amount within 45 days from this day failing which the Complainant will have the liberty to take steps against the OPs as per law.

Let the copy of this order be given to the parties free of cost.