The case of the complainant, in short, is that the complainant is a legal practitioner presently practicing at Alipurduar Court as an Advocate. That the complainant after completion of his newly renovated one storied building negotiate with the O.P for cover up his newly renovated one storied building by grill. After consultation both parties are agreed between them on 12/12/2021and the O.P will hand over and install all the grill articles within 16/01/2022 and in this regard on the same day the complainant had paid an amount Rs. 5,000/- in cash in presence of one third person namely Sri. Naresh Barman as advance and it has been mutually agreed between both the parties that after installation of the grill, the complainant will clear up all the expenses along with the value of the grill which remains due. On 19/12/2021 an amount of Rs. 10,000/- has been paid by the complainant to the O.P through google pay at O.P’s account. After agreement complainant had waited till 20/01/2022 for installation of the grill. After waiting another ten days i.e. on 31/01/2022 the complainant’s approached the O.P to know the status of the ordered grill etc. but the O.P expressed his inability to complete the total work in due time and informed the complainant that he will deliver the same within 15/02/2022. That on 15/03/2022 after waiting so many days as fixed by the O.P, the complainant tried to reach the O.P but the O.P flatly refused to deliver the grills ordered by the complainant. Complainant requested the O.P to refund of the advance amount but the O.P adamantly stated that he will not deliver the grills. That by the act of the O.P the complainant came to know that the O.P has cheated him with false promises. After that complainant had approached the O.P so many times for refunding the advance amount but the O.P has not refunded the amount till date. Due to negligence and deficiency in service on the part of the O.P complainant has to incurred a huge losses to run his profession properly and as well as he suffered from mental agony for that reason complainant has prayed for refund of Rs. 15,000/- which the complainant made an advance to the O.P and also claim Rs. 1,00,000/- for loss of his good will and reputation which the complainant earns due to his long standing practicing career and also claim Rs. 50,000/- for causing harassment and mental sufferings and also Rs. 50,000/- for damage of his one storied building and also claim Rs. 20,000/- for litigation cost by the O.P.
After admission of this case the notice was sent to the O.P by registered post with A/D card and O.P appeared before this Commission on 06/06/2022 but after that O.P did not turn up to contest this case. Hence, the case is proceeded to ex-parte hearing against the O.P.
In support of his case complainant files evidence-on-affidavit and Xerox copy of document i.e. one screenshot for payment of Rs. 10,000/- to the O.P.
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION
- Is the complainant a consumer u/s. 2(7)(ii) of Consumer Protection Act, 2019
- Has this Commission jurisdiction to try the instant case?
- Where the good supplied to the complainant by the O.P was defective or the O.P is negligent in providing service?
- Is the complainant entitled to get any relief/reliefs as prayed for?
DECISION WITH REASONS
Considering the nature and character of the case all points are interlinked to each other as such all such points are taken up together for consideration for the sake of brevity and convenience.
Point Nos. 1 and 2:- According to the complainant he intend to purchase the grills for his renovated one storied building from the O.P and for which he has paid advance amount to the O.P. But ultimately O.P neither supply the said grills nor refund the advance amount. According to Consumer Protection Act the complainant is a consumer and the case is well maintainable. That apart both the complainant and the O.P are residing within the territorial jurisdiction of this Commission and therefore, this Commission has territorial jurisdiction to try this case as per section 34(d) of the C.P. Act, 2019.
Point Nos. 3 and 4:- In this case the complainant’s allegation is that he ordered for supply of grills to cover his newly renovated building to the O.P and for that purpose he at first paid Rs. 5,000/- in cash as advance amount and thereafter, he paid Rs. 10,000/- to the O.P through Google Pay but the O.P neither supplied the grills nor refund the advance amount. The O.P did not contest this case for which his version is unknown to us. Now the question is whether the complainant paid advance amount of Rs. 15,000/- to the O.P or not? According to the complaint on 12/12/2021 he paid Rs. 5,000/- in cash to the O.P as advance but during evidence he did not produce any documents regarding payment of the advance amount. It appears that the said cash payment was made in presence of one Naresh Barman but Naresh Barman did not turn up to prove the same. It also appears that on 19/12/2021 the complainant paid Rs. 10,000/- to the O.P through Google Pay and the document has been filed by the complainant which is the screenshot of the payment receipt. So regarding payment of the amount of Rs. 10,000/- the complainant has proved the same but regarding payment of Rs. 5,000/- in cash there is no document or proved produced by the complainant. So, after perusal of the evidence we find that the complainant paid Rs. 10,000/- as advance to the O.P. After careful scrutiny of the entire case record we do not find any averment regarding the total cost of the grills etc. The O.P did not supply the grills to the complainant. The said advance amount has not been refunded by the O.P to the complainant at the same time. So there is a deficiency in service from the part of the O.P for not supplying the grills after taking the advance money as well as not refunded the advance money. The version of the O.P is unknown to us as he did not turn up to contest the case. The complainant is entitled to get the refund of the said Rs.10,000/- from the O.P along with interest thereon. In this case the complainant has claimed several compensation. In prayer – B he has claimed compensation of Rs. 1,00,000/- for loss his good will and reputation but we failed to understand that due to non-supply of grills what reputation and good will have been lost by the complainant. He did not clarify specifically regarding the said compensation in his petition as well as evidence. He has also prayed compensation of Rs. 50,000/- for his mental agony and harassment. We find that due to non-supply of grills after making advance amount the complainant has to spend several times to the O.P regarding the supply of the grills and the grills are the protection of the building and definitely there was mental agony and harassment caused by the O.P to the complainant and the complainant is entitled to get compensation of Rs. 20,000/- for that. The complainant again claim Rs. 50,000/- for damage of his newly renovated building but again we also do not understand that due to non-supply of grills what damage was cost in his building. The complainant did not state specifically what damage was done due to non-fixing of the grills. The complainant has claimed Rs, 20,000/- as a litigation cost but we find that the complainant himself as a lawyer and he conducted his own case without pay any Advocates fee or court fees etc. So he is not entitled to get any litigation cost, compensation for loss of his good will and reputation and also compensation for damage of his building.
After considering all these facts we find that the complainant is entitled to get the refund of advance money as well as the compensation as stated above as because there is no reason to disbelieve the unchallenged case of the complainant.
Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, for ends of justice; it is;-
ORDERED
that the instant case be and the same is allowed ex-parte against the O.P. The complainant Sri. Badal Kumar Brahma do get the award amounting to Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousands) which is the advance amount along with 6% interest Per annum till the realization of the decreetal amount and he is also entitled to get Rs. 20,000/- as compensation for his mental agony and harassment. In total complainant will get Rs. 30,000/- excluding interest. The O.P (Dulal Mandal) is hereby directed to pay the total decreetal amount as stated above to the complainant. The O.P is directed to pay the said award amount to the complainant within 30 days from the day of receiving this order i.d. legal action will be taken against him.
