Sk. Md. Shamsuddoha,

Village – Mollarchalk, P.O. Chaturthaghari,

P.S. Kankdeep, District – South 24 Parganas.

PIN – 743347.--------------------------------------------------------------  COMPLAINANT.

-          Versus   -

1.         The Branch Manager, 

            L.I.C.I. Bagnan Branch, Howrah,

            Howrah – 711303.

2.         The Branch Manager,

            State Bank of India, Bagnan Branch,

Howrah,

PIN – 711303.------------------------------------------------------OPPOSITE PARTIES.

                                                P   R    E     S    E    N     T

President     :     Shri T.K. Bhattacharya, M.A. LL.B. WBHJS.

Member      :      Shri P.K. Chatterjee.

Member       :     Smt. Jhumki Saha.

                                                 F  I   N   A    L       O   R   D    E     R

1.                  Complainant, Sk. Shamsuddoha,  by filing a petition U/S 12 of the C .P. Act,

1986 ( as amended up to date ) has prayed for a direction to be given upon the o.p. no. 1 to pay an amount of Rs. 12,688/-, being the surrender value of a policy bearing no. 497676917 along with interest from 11-12-2012, to pay an amount of Rs. 10,000/- as compensation for causing physical and mental agony along with Rs. 5,000/- as litigation cost and other order or orders as the Forum deem fit and proper.    

2.                  Brief facts of the case is that complainant surrendered his policy on 11-12-

2012 with O.P. no. 1 being the policy no. 497676917. Thereafter, he waited for a long time but the surrendered amount being Rs. 12,688/- was not credited to his account. He met the Branch Manager m of O.P. no. 1 for several times but always he was given assurance that the surrender amount would be credited to his account in due course of time. And after a long waiting, one day he came to know from the letter dated 11-12-2012, written by O.P no. 1, that an amount of Rs. 12,688/- had been credited to SBI, Bagnan Branch A/C no. 30864191431 in respect of the surrendered policy no. 497676917. But unfortunately, that bank account does not belong to this complainant. And he immediately  informed O.P. no. 1. O.P. no. 1 sent him to O.P. no. 2 with a letter which was received by O.P. no. 2  and O.P no. 2 told the complainant that the person, namely, Tapan Kumar Dolui, withdrew the amount in whose account O.P. no. 1 transferred the amount of Rs. 12,688/-. After that, complainant started requesting O.P. no. 1 to give his surrender value of Rs. 12,688/- and lastly on 20-03-2013, complainant wrote a letter to O.P. no. 1 vide letter dated 20-03-2013 with the same request. But till the filing of this case i.e., on 24-07-2013, O.P. no. 1 did not credit the amount to complainant’s account being no. 20019565417 held with S.B.I., Uluberia Branch. Being frustrated and finding no other alternative, complainant filed this instant petition with the aforesaid prayers.

3.                  Notices were served. O.ps. appeared and filed written version. Accordingly,

the case heard on contest.

4.                  Upon pleadings of both parties two points arose for determination :

i)          Is there any deficiency in service on the part of the O.Ps.  ?

ii)                  Whether the complainant is  entitled to get any relief as prayed for ? 

DECISION  WITH   REASONS      :

5.                  Both the points are  taken up together for consideration.            O.P. no. 2 in their

written version has stated that O.P. no. 1 directly credited the account being no.  30864191431 held by one of their account holders, namely,  Tapan Dalui on 11-12-1012 and that customers, i.e., Tapan Dalui withdrew an amount of Rs. 5,000/- through  ATM on 24-12-2012 over which O.P. no. 2 did not have any control vide Annexure ‘A’ of their written version. And as soon as O.P. no. 2 received a request letter from O.P. no. 1 on 21-01-2013 to stop further withdrawal of amount from the account of Tapan Dalui vide Annexure  ‘B’, O.P. no. 2 asked that Tapan Dalui to meet the Branch Manager vide Annexures ‘C’ & ‘D’ and also O.P. no. 2 stopped further withdrawal. And only on 23-03-2013, O.P. no. 1 requested O.P. no. 2 to return the amount which was wrongly transferred to Mr. Dalui’s account with a further request to furnish the whereabouts of Mr. Dalui, vide Annexure ‘E”. Immediately O.P. no. 2 vide their letter dated 25-03-2013 Annexure ‘F’ informed O.P. no. 1 that as Rs. 5,000/- was already withdrawn by Mr. Dalui on 24-12-2012, they could only return an amount of Rs. 11,184/- to O.P. no. 1. From these entire documents, we find O.P. no. 2 has perfectly done its duty. The amount of Rs. 12,688/- was directly credited to Mr. Dalui’s account wrongly by O.P no. 1. From his own account being no. 30864191431 held with O.P. no. 2, Mr. Dalui withdrew an amount of Rs. 5,000/-. Really, O.P. no. 2 had nothing to do in this respect and it was not even within their knowledge, too, till 21-01-2013 only when O.P. no. 1 wrote a letter to O.P. no. 2. Immediately on 22-01-2013, O.P. no. 2 stopped further withdrawal and asked Mr. Dalui to meet their office. So, the entire mistake was committed by O.P. no. 1. Accordingly, we do not find any deficiency in service on the part of O.P. no. 2.

6.                  O.P. no. 1 in their written version, vide  para 4, has admitted that at the time of

surrendering the policy, complainant mentioned in his application the account number which he holds with SBI, Uluberia Branch,  being no. 20019565417. Still, O.P. no. 1 tranferred the surrender value of Rs. 12,688/- to another account being no. 30864191431 held with  SBI, Bagnan Branch by one, Mr. Tapan Dalui. Now O.P. no. 1 is taking a plea of ‘unintentional wrong keying in of the record’ which  is not at all tenable in the eye of law. And O.P. no. 1 made a great delay even in writing to O.P. no. 2, which they did only on 21-01-2013 without keeping in mind that they committed a mistake on 11-12-2012. Even after 21-01-2013, O.P. no. 1 again wrote to O.P. no. 2 only on 23-03-2013 after a long gap of two months, which is nothing but clear negligence on the part of O.P. no. 1. And now O.P.  no. 1 is trying to shift the burden of negligence on O.P. no. 2 by stating that it was a mere clerical mistake.  And after filing this case by the complainant on 24-07-2013, now O.P. no. 1 is willing to pay him Rs. 12,688/- that is also to be done by O.P. no. 1 if ld. Forum so directs. So, it is crystal clear that O.P. no. 1 has not really realized their negligence which they extended towards the complainant since 11-12-2012. It is required to be understood that when an insurance policy is surrendered before maturity, the policy holder must be in an urgency of getting money.  Complainant deposited Rs. 15,000/- as premium in three years i.e., Rs. 5,000/- per year. And as he opted for prematured encashment of the said policy, he was supposed to receive an amount of  Rs. 12,688/- on 11-12-2012. But due to wrong posting by O.P. no. 1, complainant did not get that amount till date, for which complainant must have faced some definite financial hardship for no fault of him which caused severe mental agony to him. O.P. no. 1’s severe negligence must have taken its toll, which should not be allowed to be perpetuated. And we hold O.P. no. 1 to be deficiency in providing service to the complainant. Accordingly, the case succeeds on merit against o.p. no  1 with costs.

Points under consideration are accordingly decided.

      Hence,

                                    O     R     D      E      R      E        D

      That the C. C. Case No. 244 of 2013 ( HDF 244 of 2013 )  be  dismissed on  contest without   costs  against  the O.P. no. 2 and be allowed on contest against O.P. no. 1 with costs.   

      That the  O.P. no. 1 is  directed to credit the amount of Rs. 12,688/- to the complainant ‘s S.B. A/C No. 20019565417 held in the SBI, Uluberia Branch, through NEFT  within 30 days from the date of this order.

      That the o.p. no. 1 is further directed to pay an amount of Rs. 5,000/- as compensation and Rs. 2,000/- as litigation costs to the complainant within one month from the date of this order, in default the entire decreetal amount   of Rs. 19,688/- shall carry an interest @ 10% p.a. till actual realization.

      The complainant is at liberty to put the decree into execution after expiry of the appeal period.