Present (1) Nisha Nath Ojha,
District & Sessions Judge (Retd.) President
(2) Smt. Karishma Mandal,
Member
(3) Anil Kumar Singh
Member
Date of Order : 31.08.2018
Nisha Nath Ojha
- In the instant case the Complainant has sought for following reliefs against the Opposite party:-
- To direct the opposite parties to pay Rs. 50,000/- for mental agony/ stress/torture and physical harassment.
- To direct the opposite parties to pay Rs. 25,000/- for legal and other expenses.
- The facts of this case lies in a narrow compass which is as follows:-
The complainant has asserted that he is an account holder of Sri Krishna Puri Branch of State Bank of India bearing account no. 10339116643. The complainant deposited a account payee cheque bearing account payee cheque no. 395776 dated 07.03.2013 for crediting the same in saving account no. 10339116643. In the meantime an account payee cheque no. 395807 amounting to Rs. 10,000/- relating to the complainant due LIC premium was presented for clearing by the LIC Patna to the said Sri Krishna Puri Branch Patna which has been dishonored by the branch stating the reason “INSUFFICIENT BALANCE” on 15.03.2013 and due to this the bank has deducted 102/- from the account of the of complainant.
The grievance of the complainant is that the cheque presented by the complainant on 07.03.2013 has been negligently credited in the account of the complainant on 18.03.2013 i.e. after expiry of 11 days.
On behalf of opposite party bank a written statement has been filed denying the allegation of the complainant. In Para – 6 of written statement following facts have been stated, “the the deponent respectfully states and submits that the cheque in question was dropped by the complainant in the drop box on 07.03.2013 and at the time of its payment some doubt create in the signature of the person concern hence only with intention to protect the interest of the account holder i.e. complainant, the official concern withhold the payment and tried to contact with the complainant on his mobile bearing no. 9431189641 on 08.03.2013, 15.03.2013 and again on 16.03.2013 but failed to contact despite efforts, due switched off his mobile.”
It has been further asserted by the bank that opposite party bank as a good banker credited the aforesaid cheque in the account of the complainant on 18.03.2013 and also paid interest for the said delay.
On behalf of complainant a rejoinder has been filed repeating the same fact and stating therein that as the complaint has been filed by the complainant who has authorized his father to argue the case.
Both parties have filed written argument.
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It is an admitted fact that the complainant has filed the cheque in question on 07.03.2013 which was credited in the account of the complainant on 18.03.2013. It is also admitted fact that the cheque of Rs. 10,000/- which was presented by the LIC towards premium of the complainant was dishonored on the ground of Insufficient Balance. It is true that bank has given interest for 11 days but the real fact is that due to dishonor of cheque the complainant was put to harassment and had to pay fine to LIC. The contention of the opposite parties that they were suspicious about the signature of the complainant and hence they tried to verify from the complainant on mobile has been denied by the complainant.
In our opinion, had the opposite parties some doubt about the signature of the complainant they would have never credited the amount of the cheque in the account of the complainant without proper verification but the mere fact that after dishonoring the cheque of the complainant on ground of insufficient fund and debiting Rs. 102/- from account of complainant as fine for the same, goes to prove that the aforementioned cheque filed by the complainant on 07.03.2013 was credited late due to negligence of the opposite parties which has resulted in deficiency of service causing harassment to the complainant.
For the reason stated above we direct the opposite parties to pay Rs. 5,000/- to the complainant towards compensation and litigation costs.
As the cheque has been credited in the account of the complainant we are not passing any order in complaint.
Accordingly this complaint stands allowed.
Member Member(F) President
