Present (1) Nisha Nath Ojha,
District & Sessions Judge (Retd.) President
(2) Smt. Karishma Mandal,
Member
Date of Order : 31.03.2016
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. 1,35,000/- including cash of Rs. 50,000/- , Jwellery worth Rs. 50,000/- and cloths worth Rs. 35,000/-.
- To pay Rs. 3,60,000/- ( Rs. Three Lakh Sixty Thousand only ) as compensation.
- To pay Rs. 5,000/- ( Rs. Five Thousand only ) as litigation costs.
- The facts of this case lies in a narrow compass which is as follows:-
The complainant has asserted that he was on return journey from Bombay to Patna on 11.01.2008 by flight no. 526721 boarding no. 35 having seat no. 3C. she had two bags for which receipt issued by Jetlite authorities bears no. S2850034 and S2850035 respectively. At the airport when she reached at Patna she was handed over a bag for which receipt bearing no. S2850035 was issued while for the other bag receipt no. S2850034 was issued but could not be delivered to her.
It is the case of the complainant that the missing bag contained valuable items etc. like Saree, Blouse, Jeans amounting to Rs. 40,000/- and Jwellery amounting to Rs. 50,000/- and cash of Rs. 55,000/- besides some important documents concerning the negligence of a Doctor. The complainant requested the opposite parties several times and also filed application to Airport Manager vide annexure – C but no reply was given to her by the opposite parties with regard to redressal of hs grievnace.
On behalf of opposite parties a written statement has been filed denying the allegation of deficiency. In Para – 3 of aforesaid written statement following facts has been asserted “ that according to the jacket of ticket ( which is valid contract and binding on both the parties, terms and condition of which are approved by IATA ), if any passenger carries any valuable articles during the travel of Airlines he ought to give the exact declaration of the said valuable articles at the counter of the opposite party before handing over the baggage to the airline as registered baggage, but the complainants herein have never made any such declaration to the opposite parties with regard to their allegedly valuable articles. Therefore such alleged claim by the complainants cannot be even considered. A true copy of the jacket of the ticket is annexed herewith and is marked as annexure OP/1.”
Apart from the aforesaid fact it has been also asserted that as per carriage by Air Act 72 for claiming additional value the passenger should have made a special declaration of the value of her valuable items and should have paid a supplementary sum.
It is further alleged that in absence of aforesaid declaration the opposite parties are liable to make payment @ 450/- per KG only if it is proved that the said baggage was allegedly lost by opposite parties during transit. It has been also stated that the occurrence took place in Bombay and this forum has no jurisdiction.
We have narrated the short facts asserted by respective parties in order to record our finding.
The fact that the complainant has booked two baggage with receipt no. S2850034 and S2850035 have not been denied.
It has been further asserted by opposite parties that as per E Mail dated 05.07.2008 of Mr. Manoj Mani ( vide annexure – 2 ), it is clear that the baggage of complainant have reached to Patna Airport from Bombay and once it is reaches the destination it is duty of the complainant to collect it. Hence, the occurrence has taken place due to negligence of complainant and not of opposite parties.
As opposite parties have asserted that the baggage reached at Patna Airport, this fact clearly empowers this Forum to exercise jurisdiction. It is also admitted that the aforesaid bags were booked at Bombay and reached to Patna Airport. Was it not the duty of opposite parties to locate the aforesaid bags and hand over the same to the complainant ?
It is needless to say that on every airport there is a desk office of all the airlines operating in that area. As per opposite parties, the desk office is managed by airport manager at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport, Patna for handling the aircraft and the passenger going out of Patna and the company has no branch office at Patna.
It is true that this case has been filed by some delay about one month and 9 days and in lodging the complaint there is a delay of 11 days but the very fact that the aforesaid bags were booked have not been denied.
The complainant after exhausting all the option have been compelled to file this case which has resulted in some delay. It is also not clear that at the time of booking of bags the complainant was asked to declare the value of items contained in the bags by the staff of the opposite parties or not and there is no evidence as to any amount what so ever had been paid to the complainant or not.
Complainants have requested this forum to award the claim of 5 lakh for which they have given the price of items contained in the bags but there is no documentary evidence of price of valuable articles asserted by the complainant.
In view of the fact discussed above we find and hold that by not handing over the bags of the complainant at Patna Airport by opposite parties, opposite parties have jointly and severally committed deficiency.
We further make it clear that there is no documentary evidence disclosing the price of valuable articles etc. hence we think to award a token amount which may serve the end of justice.
Hence we direct the opposite parties jointly and severally to pay Rs. 40,000/- to the complainant by way of all type of compensation etc. including token price of article of lost bag within the period of two months from the date of receipt of this order or certified copy of this order failing which the opposite parties will have to pay an interest @ 12% on the aforesaid amount till its final payment.
According this complaint stands allowed to the extent indicated above.
Member President
