BEFORE THE DISTRICT FORUM:KURNOOL
Present: Sri.T.Sundara Ramaiah , B.Com B.L., President
And
Sri. M.Krishna Reddy , M.Sc., M.Phil., Male Member
Wednesday the 26th day of May , 2010
C.C.No.81/09
Between:
Mala Maddi Rajanna, S/o Pedda Balanna Alies Samuel,
H.No.7/6, Down Street,Kalvatala Village, Kolimigundla-518123, Kurnool District. …..Complainant
-Vs-
1.The Secretary, The Primary Agriculture Co-Operative Society Limited,
Q.No.195, Kolimigundla-518123, Kurnool District.
2.The Divisional Manager, The Oriental Insurance Company Limited,
Post Box No.33, Park Road, Bhupal Complex, Kurnool-518001. …Opposite PartieS
This complaint is coming on this day for orders in the presence of Sri.S.V.Krishna Reddy, Advocate, for complainant , and Sri.A Prabhakara Reddy , Advocate for opposite party No. 1 and Sri.N.Ishaiah Advocate for opposite party No. 2 and upon perusing the material papers on record, the Forum made the following.
ORDER
(As per Sri. T.Sundara Ramiah, President)
C.C. No.81/09
1. This complaint is filed under section 13 (B) of the C. P. Act, 1986 praying
a) To direct the opposite parties to pay the claim amount of Rs.50,000/-
b) To award interest at 24 Percent from the date of payment i.,e 14-02-2007.
c) To award Rs.20,000/- for mental agony .
d) To award future interest on the awarded amount.
e) To award cost of the litigation.
f) To grant such other relief or reliefs as the Honourable Forum may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.
2. The case of the complainant in brief is as follows:- The complainant is the son of the deceased Maddi Marthamma who is a member in the Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society Limited run by OP.No.1. The account number is 744. As per the terms of membership all account
holders aged between 19 to 69 years are covered under KCC policy .If any member of the society dies in the accident , the OP.No.2 is liable to pay a sum of Rs.50,000/- to the heirs of the account holder. Marthamma mother of the complainant died in the road accident on 08-02-2007 . She was 58 years old on the date of accident . After the death of Marathamma the complainant submitted claim to OP.No.2 through OP.No.1 . OP.No.2 repudiated the claim stating that the mother of the complainant was 72 years. The OP.No.2 repudiated the claim without any basis . There is clear deficiency of service on the part of OP.No. 2 . Hence the complaint .
3. OP.No.1 filed written version admitting that Smt. Maddi Marthamma is account holder in the society . As per the records Maddi Marthamma was 55 years old at the time of joining as a member . The complainant is entitled for policy amount as Marthamma was under age group of 19 to 69 years .
4. OP.No.2 filed separate written version stating that the complaint is not maintainable . It is admitted that all the members of OP.No.1 society are covered under KCC policy . Members in age group of 19 to 69 are covered under the said policy . OP.No.2 repudiated the claim as the complainants mother was 72 years old on the date of her death. Hence OP.No.2 repudiated the claim of the complainant . The Tahasildar , Kolimigundla (M) issued a family member certificate where in the age of elder son of the deceased Marthamma is mentioned as 50 years by March 2007 . The age difference between the deceased and her elder son is only 8 years . As per the family member certificate it is unbelievable and not possible to give birth to a child by a female at the age of 8 years .The age of the deceased as on the date of her death is not 58 years and it is 72 years. Hence the complainant is not entitled for any amount. As per the family member certificate Marthamma died leaving behind her four sons and one daughter as her legal heirs . All the legal heirs of the deceased i.e her four sons and daughter are necessary parties in the complaint . There is no deficiency of service on the part of opposite party and the complaint is liable to be dismissed.
4. On behalf of the complainant Ex. A1 to A10 are marked . On behalf of the opposite parties Ex.B1 to B2 are marked.
5. On the basis of the above pleadings the points that arise for consideration are
(i) whether there is any deficiency of service on the part of the
respondents/ opposite parties ?
(ii) Whether the complainant is entitled to the relief as prayed
for?
(iii) To what relief?
6. Both parties filed written arguments.
7. Point No.1 & 2: Admittedly Maddi Maruthamma joined as a member in the Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society Limited . It is also admitted that the KCC policy covers the members of the OP.No.1 society who are in age group 19 to 69 years . It is also admitted that in case of death of a member of the society in the accident the OP.No.2 is liable to pay a sum of Rs.50,000/- to the heirs of the member. It is the case of the complainant that her mother Marathamma died in a road accident on 08-02-2007 . To prove the same the complainant relied on Ex.A5 to A7. Ex.A5 is the copy of FIR in Cr.No.14/07 of Kolimigundla P.S of Kurnool District. It is mentioned in Ex.A5 that on 08-02-2007 at 9-30 AM a lorry driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner dashed against Maddi Marthamma near labour factory at Jammulamadugu , Tadipatri road. Ex.A6 is the post mortem certificate of deceased Marthamma . It is also mentioned in Ex.A6 that Marthamma died due to road accident . In Ex.A7 inquest report also it is clearly mentioned on 08-02-2007 at 8-00 AM a lorry driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner dashed against Marthamma and that Marthamma died on the spot. As seen from entries in Ex.A5 to A7 it is very clear that Marthamma died on 08-02-2007 in a road accident . In Ex.A4 death certificate issued by Secretary , Gram Panchayat ,Kalavatala , it is clearly mentioned that Marthamma died on 08-02-2007 in an accident.
8. It is the case of OP.No.2 that the deceased Marthamma was 72 years old by the date of her death , that policy covers the members of OP.No.1 society who were in the age group of 19 to 69 years . The complainant to show that Marthamma was 55 years old on the date of joining as a member in the society and that her age was 58 years by the date of death relied on Ex.A1 to Ex.A7. As seen from Ex.A2 it is very clear that Marthamma was member of the OP.1 society. Ex.A2 is the entries in pass book where in it is mentioned that Marthamma was 55 years old by the date of purchase of shares in OP.1 society on 18-09-2006 and 28-09-2006. In Ex.A5 FIR and as well as in inquest report the age of deceased Marthamma is mentioned as 58 years . Ex.A6 is the post mortem certificate issued by the medical officer who conducted post mortem examination over the dead body of the deceased Marthamma . There is no necessity for the medical officer who conducted post mortem examination to mention wrongly that the age of the deceased was 58 years . OP.No. 2 relied on Ex.B1 and B2 to show that the deceased Marthamma was 72 years old by the date of her death. Ex.B1 is the voters identity card of Marthamma where in her is mentioned as 60 years by 1995. If the age mentioned in Ex.B1 is taken as true, the age of Marthamma by the date of her death must be more than 70 years . OP.No.2 also filed Ex.B2 family member certificate of Marthamma issued by Tahisdar , Kolimigundla (M) . In Ex.B2 the age of the elder son of Marthamma is mentioned as 50 years by March , 2007 . It is not known on what basis the Tahsildar issued Ex.B2 certificate mentioning that the age of the elder son of the deceased was 50 years by March , 2007. Both in Ex.B1 and B2 the approximate ages of the persons named there in are mentioned. Taking into consideration Ex.B1 and B2 it cannot be safely concluded that the deceased Marthamma was 72 years old by the date of her death. There is no necessity for the medical officer who conducted post mortem to say that Maathamma was 58 years old by the date of her death. In the absence of the date of birth certificate one can place reliance on the age of the deceased mentioned in the post mortem certificate . The post mortem certificate it is clearly mentioned that the deceased was 58 years old by the date of her death. Admittedly the policy covers of the members of the OP.No.1 society who one of the age group of 19 to 69 years . As the deceased was 58 years old by the date of her death. OP.No.2 is liable to pay Rs.50,000/- to legal heirs. The repudiation of the claim by OP.No.2 is not proper and there is deficiency of service on the part of OP.No.2.
9. It is also the case of the OP.NO.2 that Marthamma died leaving behind her four sons and one daughter and all of them are necessary parties to the compliant. Ex.B2 is the family member certificate of deceased Marthamma . It shows that Marthamma died leaving behind her four sons and one daughter . This complaint is filed by the 2nd son of Marthamma . The complainant did not give any explanation as to why he did not add the other hires of Marthamma as parties to the complaint. Merely because all the heirs are not added as parties , the complaint can be dismissed. No document is filed by the complainant to show that he was appointed as a nominee by the deceased Marthamma . In the absence of nomination by the deceased all the legal heirs of the deceased are entitled to share the amount of Rs.50,000/- . As already stated as per Ex.B2 family member certificate Marthamma died leaving behind four sons and one daughter . The complainant is one of the sons of deceased Marthamma . He is entitled to 1/5 share in the total amount of Rs.50,000/-. Accordingly the complainant is entitled of Rs.10,000/- with subsequent interest.
10. Point No:- 3. In the result the complaint is partly allowed directing the opposite party No. 2 to pay of Rs.10,000/ with interest at 9% from the date of death of Marthamma i.,e on 08-02-2007 till the date of payment . The complainant against OP.No.1 is dismissed. In the circumstance of the case each party to bear its own costs.
Dictated to the stenographer, transcribed by her , corrected and pronounced by us in the open bench on this the 26th day of May , 2010.
Sd/- Sd/-
MALE MEMBER PRESIDENT
APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE
Witnesses Examined
For the complainant : Nil For the opposite parties :Nil
List of exhibits marked for the complainant:-
Ex.A-1 | Membership list of Primary Agriculture Co-operative Society Limited, Kolimigundla. |
Ex.A-2 | Attested Xerox copy of Entrance pass book. |
Ex.A-3 | Attested Xerox copy of Co-Operative Credit pass book. |
Ex.A-4 | Attested Xerox copy of Death Certificate. |
Ex.A-5 | Attested Xerox copy of F.I.R No.14/07 Kolimigundla P.S. |
Ex.A-6 | Attested Xerox copy of Post Mortem Certificate. |
Ex.A-7 | Attested Xerox copy of Inquest Report. |
Ex.A-8 | Xerox copy of Letter dt.14-2-2007 Issued by OP2 to OP1. |
Ex.A-9 | Xerox copy of Letter dt.30-3-2007 Issued by OP2 to OP1. |
Ex.A-10 | Xerox copy of Repudiated letter dt.21-5-2007 Issued by OP2 to OP1. |
List of exhibits marked for the opposite parties:
Ex.B-1 | Xerox copy of Identity Card of Maddi Marutamma. |
Ex. B-2 | Family Members Certificate. |
Sd/- Sd/-
MALE MEMBER PRESIDENT
// 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
Copy was made ready on :
Copy was dispatched on:
