BEFORE THE DISTRICT FORUM:KURNOOL
Present: Sri.P.V.Nageswara Rao , M.A., LL.M President(FAC)
And
Smt. C.Preethi, M.A.LL.B., Lady Member
And
Sri. M.Krishna Reddy, M.Sc.,M.Phil., Male Member
Thursday the 13th day of August, 2009
C.C. 197/08
Between:
Wings Society,Represented by its Secretary ,
V.Leelavathi, D/o. V.Galaiah, R/o. 25/271-2, Sanjeevanagar,
Nandyal Town, Kurnool.
… Complainant
Versus
The Branch Manager, State Bank of India,
Nandyal Main Branch, D.No. 2/97, Nagala Kunta Road, Nandyal - 518 502.
….Opposite party
This complaint is coming on this day for orders in the presence of Sri. S. Siva Ramakrishna Prasad, Advocate, for the complainant , and Sri.A.Chandra Sekhar Rao , Advocate for opposite party and upon perusing the material papers on record, the Forum made the following.
ORDER
(As per Smt. C.Preethi, Lady Member)
C.C.No.197/08
1. This consumer complaint of the complainant is filed U/S 12 of C.P.Act , 1986 seeking a direction on opposite party to pay a sum of Rs.1,44,696/- , Rs.50,000/- towards damages, cost of the complaint and any other relief or relief’s which the complainant is entitled in the circumstances of the case.
2. The brief facts of the complainants case is that the complainant- Wings Society is represented by its Secretary V.Leelavathi is running Charity Educational School at Koilakuntla getting funds from Government through DPEP . In order to provide transparency the society is maintaining a savings bank account No.10840121967 with opposite party and the President and Secretary of the society are authorized to operate the said account. The cheque books and other account books of the society are to be maintained by an accountant and one Mr. Surya Narayana appointed as an employee i.,e Manager of the society used to manage the accounts of the society and also attending the banking work . Out of their busy schedule the President and Secretary used to sign cheque leafs and will be kept in the office of the society to avoid inconvenience if President or Secretary are out of station . On 20-09-2007 the society received a draft from DPEP , Kurnool and same was kept in the office of the society and it was found that the said D.D and a signed cheque was misplaced from the office of the society and the President of the society gave a written requisition to the opposite party not to allow any transaction in the society’s account and the opposite party immediately responded and deducted Rs.110/- towards service charges on the next day . The president of the society approached the opposite party to know the progress and to the surprise an amount of Rs.1,45,696/- was credited and and Rs.1,44,696/- was with drawn by Mr. Surya Satyanaraya under cheque bearing No. 371587 . On approaching the opposite party gave evasive reply and the branch manager did not take any responsibility for the said act. Hence, there is gross negligence on part of opposite party and the complainant resorted to the forum for reliefs.
3. In support of his case the complainant relied on the following documents viz., (1) receipt issued by District Registrar , Kurnool on 29-08-2007 , (2) attested Xerox of bye laws in 8 papers , (3) C.C of order copy in C.C. 168/07 of District Forum , Kurnool (4) C.C of letter dated 21-09-2007 to S.B.I , Nandyal by the complainant , (5) C.C. of savings bank account of complainants No. 10840121967 in two papers , besides to the sworn affidavit of the complainant in reiteration of his complaint averments and the above documents are marked as Ex.A1 to A5 for its appreciation in this case and replies to the interrogatories exchanged.
4. In pursuance to the notice of this forum as to this case of the complainant the opposite party appeared through their counsel and contested the case by filling written version .
5. The written version of opposite party denies the complaint as not maintainable either in law or on facts and submits that one Surya Narayana is the payee in cheque bearing No. 371587 dated 29-09-2007 and the makers of the said cheque are the President and the Secretary and on reverse of the said cheque the payee signature is attested by both Secretary and the President with their seal. The above cheque was presented by Surya Narayana and this procedure is being followed by the society since November, 2006 . The amount was with drawn by a cheque issued in the name of Surya Narayana admittedly who is an employee in the complainant’s society. When the employee of the society received money while enchasing an instrument it is deemed to have received the amount for the society and it is presumed that the amount is credited to the account of the society by Surya Narayana and hence there is no cause of action for the complainant to file this complaint and seeks for the dismissal of complaint with costs.
6. In support of their case the opposite parties relied on the following documents viz., (1) pay slip dated 15-11-2006 for Rs.2,05,663/- , (2) cheque dated 15-11-2007 for Rs.1,19,550/- , (3) pay slip dated 21-09-2007 for Rs.1,45,696/-, (4) cheque dated 20-09-2007 for Rs.1,44,696/- , (5) statement of account No. 1840121967 for the period 19-06-2006 to 16-04-2008 and (6) copy of reply of complainant to the interrogatory filed by opposite parties in C.C.168/07 , besides to the sworn affidavit of the opposite party in reiteration of his complaint averments and the above documents are marked as Ex.B1 and B6 for its appreciation in this case and replies to the interrogatories exchanged. .
7. Hence, the point for consideration is to what relief the complainant is entitled alleging deficiency of service on part of opposite parties :-
8. The case of the complainant is that the complainant is society represented by its secretary V. Leelavathi and submits that the society was having an account bearing No. 10840121967 with opposite party and the said account was operated by both the President & Secretary of the said society and on 20-09-2007 , a cheque signed by both President and Secretary was misplaced from the office of the society and the same was intimated to opposite party bank under Ex.A4. The Ex.A4 is the CC of letter dated 21-09-2007 addressed by K. Dhanunjaya Rao President of wings society to the Manager, State Bank of Nandyal , India alleging its holding an account in their bank and alleging of a cheque misplaced pertaining to said account and requesting to stoppage of all transaction from 21-09-2007 to 26-09-2007 and the complainant takes a reference to the entry dated 21-09-2007 in Ex.A5 as to the withdrawal of Rs.110/- from the complainants account as charges in pursuance of letter in Ex.A4 for the compliance of request made there in . This aspect is not denied by the opposite party . The complainant submits that inspite of said request the cheque bearing NO. 371587 for Rs.1,44,696/- was honored by the bank.
9. On the other hand the opposite party bank submits that the cheque bearing No. 371587 dated 20-09-2007 for Rs.1,44,696/- was issued to one Surya Narayana who is the manager of the complainants society and it is the regular practice of complainants society to send Surya Narayana for banking work and in regular course the said cheque for Rs.1,44,696/- was brought by Surya Narayana who regular deposits DDs and presents cheques in his name on behalf of society and draws amount from the bank and the said amount of Rs.1,44,696/- was enchased and paid to the Surya Narayana and not to the third person. Admittedly Surya Narayana is an employee of complainants society and when an employee receives money it is deemed to be received by the society and if an employee has received money on behalf of the society he is accountable to the society and if the employee does not show the amount into the society’s account , the society has to take action on the said employee. The complainant alleged that cheque signed by President and Secretary is misplaced , but on perusal of cheque in Ex.B4 it is clear that the said cheque is issued in favour of Surya Narayana and his signature was attested by the President and Secretary of the society and address and cell number of Suryanarayana is also mentioned on the over leaf of the cheque. From the above one thing is clear that the cheque was issued to Surya Narayana only and he encashed the same and he is the employee of the complainants society and he is presently working in the said society and what prevented the complainants society to taken any action on the said Surya Narayana who is working under them. The society can file a criminal complainant or a police complaint and he has to be removed from the society’s office but the complainants society is happily taking work from the said person who has misused the cheque amount. No material is filed to show whether any action is taken on said Surya Narayana , the complaint is silent on the said aspect. It is the duty of society to complaint to their superiors on the wrong acts done by their employee. But it appears that the society has not taken any action on Surya Narayana more so it appears that the society is supporting Surya Narayana . When such huge amount of Rs.1,44,496/- is misplaced from the society’s account, the society is answerable to the government , as the society is receiving funds from the Government and the said funds are liable for audit annually. The complainants society did not place any account books relating to the misappropriation of cheque amount in their ledgers. In the absence of any such material , it has to be presumed that the amount with drawn by Surya Narayana are credited to the society’s account only and the society cannot be benefited again.
10. To sum up the opposite party has paid the cheque amount to the employee of the complainants society and the said amount might have been credited to the society’s account only . The complainants society did not placed any material such as ledger account book of the society to show misappropriation of amount or any material as to taking any action on their employee Surya Narayana who has encashed the said cheque amount , and by decreeing the compliant the complainants society will be benefited again. Hence the relief claimed by the complainant’s society cannot be ordered and the complaint is dismissed without costs.
In the result, the complaint is dismissed without costs.
Dictated to the stenographer, transcribed by her , corrected and pronounced by us in the open bench on this the 13th day of August , 2009.
Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-
LADY MEMBER PRESIDENT(FAC) MALE MEMBER
APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE
Witnesses Examined
For the complainant : Nil For the opposite parties :Nil
List of exhibits marked for the complainant:-
Ex.A1. Receipt issued by the District Registrar , Kurnool
On 29-08-2007
Ex.A2. Attested xerox copy of bye laws in 8 papers.
Ex.A3. CC of order copy in CC 168/07 of District Forum, Kurnool.
Ex.A4. CC of letter dated 21-09-2007 of State Bank of India ,
(Nandyal ) by the complainant.
Ex.A5. CC of savings bank account of complainants No. 10840121967 in 2 papers.
List of exhibits marked for the opposite parties:
Ex.B1. Pay slip dated 15-11-2006 for Rs.2,05,663/-.
Ex.B2. Cheque dated 15-11-2006 for Rs.1,19,550/-.
ExB3. Pay slip dated 21-09-2007 for Rs.1,45,696/-.
Ex.B4. Cheque dated 20-09-2007 for Rs.1,44,696/-.
Ex.B5. Statement of account No. 10840121967 for the period
01-09-2006 to 16-04-2008.
Ex.B6. Copy of reply of complainant to the interrogatory filed by
opposite parties in C.C.168/07.
Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-
LADY MEMBER PRESIDENT (FAC) MALE MEMBER
// Certified free copy communicated under Rule 4 (10) of the
A.P.S.C.D.R.C. Rules, 1987//
Copy to:-
Complainant and Opposite parties
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