Haryana

Kurukshetra

CC/65/2019

Ashok Kumar - Complainant(s)

Versus

SBI - Opp.Party(s)

Shekhar Thakur

09 Jan 2020

ORDER

Dr. Ashok Kumar Leel Vs. SBI etc.                                  CC-65/19.

 

Present:     Shri Shekhar Thakur, Advocate for the complainant.

Shri Rajan Chawla, Advocate for the OPs.

 

                This order shall dispose of the application filed by the OPs to dismiss the complaint on the ground of maintainability. In this application, it is stated that the Hon’ble Forum has no jurisdiction to entertain and adjudicate the present complaint. The subject matter of the present complaint is a dispute between employer and employee having no relation with the answering OPs. The subject matter of the present complaint is a dispute regarding the pension and the terminal benefits of the complaint and the same cannot be determined by the Hon’ble Forum. It does not attract any provision of the Consumer Protection Act and the working employee or retired employee does not come under the definition of the consumer under Section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act. It is prayed that the present application may kindly be allowed and complaint filed by the complainant, may kindly be dismissed being not maintainable.

                This application has been resisted by the complainant by way of filing reply, stating therein that the present application is baseless, devoid of merits. The OPs did not submit any relevant law from higher Court through which it can be said that the complaint is not maintainable when SBI is performing the role of imparting pensions and service relating benefits to the Govt. pensioners. That the Haryana Government disburse post service related benefits through SBI and the SBI has caused deficiency in service in providing post service benefits i.e. Interest on arrears of Pension, Medical Allowance etc., therefore, being part of banking activity, it is amendable to the Hon’ble Forum jurisdiction. It is prayed that the present application may kindly be dismissed with costs. In support to his contention, he placed reliance upon case law titled Chief Manager, State Bank of India Vs. Manika Sarkar, Revision Petition d.o.d. 29.1.2019 (NC).

We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and carefully gone through the case file.

In para No.5 of the complaint, the complainant alleged that he approached the Hon’ble Pb. & Haryana High Court and filed COCP No.1209 of 2016 and as per directions given by the Hon’ble High Court, the pension payment order was revised and a letter was written by treasury office Kurukshetra to the OP No.1 for revising his pension from 4119/- to 6661/- w.e.f. 01.9.2006 and according the same was not settled by the OPs bank on 22.12.2016, and arrear of pension was released about Rs.51,066/-, but the OPs failed to give the accumulated interest upon such arrear of pension, which is still pending. However, it is pertinent to mention here that since the matter in question was earlier heard/decided by the Hon’ble High Court and if the complainant was having any grievance about compliance of that decision, then certainly the complainant should have to approach the same Court/ other higher authority in this regard. It is also made clear that the complainant has not attached with this complaint any copy of that order passed by the Hon’ble High Court. Moreover, the OPs bank is only a service provider between the complainant and his department and the OPs bank will pay only the amount to the complainant what will be deposited with it by the department related to the complainant. Furthermore, perusal of case file also shows that the complainant is not the consumer of the OPs bank. The case laws produced by the complainant is not disputed, but the same are not helpful to the case of the complainant being rested on different footings. So, in view of the aforesaid discussions, we hereby allow the application filed by the OPs and dismiss the complaint being not maintainable. Parties are left to bear their own costs. Certified copies of this order be supplied to the parties concerned, forthwith, free of cost as permissible under Rules. File be indexed and consigned to the Record Room.

 

                                                President

                        Member             Member             DCDRF/Kurukshetra.

                                                                        09.1.2020.