Order No. 12 dt. 29/09/2016
The case of the complainant in brief is that the complainant is an aged person and he invested in SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme since 7.11.06. On 1.3.13 the complainant applied for additional purchase of Rs.1 lakh under the above scheme and the said amount was invested in a newly created fund namely SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan Dividend, without approval of the applicant. The said investment was made in the said scheme without the consent of complainant. The o.p. informed the complainant that the said investment was made in SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan Dividend according to SEBI’s circular no.CIR/IMD/DF/21/2012 dt.13.9.12 which was effected from Jan 2013. In this connection the complainant stated that SEBI’s circular was for introduction for a new policy bifurcating the prevailing fund into regular and direct and he did not authorize the o.p. to accept the public money without examining the applications or without caring for what the complainant preciously wanted. The act of o.p. was illegal and therefore the complainant prayed for exemplary punishment.
In view of the said fact the complainant has prayed for refund of the money of Rs.1 lakh along with interest @ 9% till final payment and compensation of Rs.1,27,000/- and litigation csot of Rs.5000/-.
The o.p. contested this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that SBI Mutual Fund is registered with SEBI in terms of the SEBI’s Regulations 1996 and fund management is made under the Companies Act. SBI MF and SBI FM PL are registered with the SEBI and as per the rules and regulations under SEBI the SBI FM PL has established a branch in Kolkata to facilitate and serve investor. The SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan Dividend payout (this scheme0 since 7.11.06 the said investment has been made directly the complainant submitted an application after going through the contents of the said application and the o.p. denied that without the consent of the complainant the said amount was invested in SBI FM PL with the introduction of the said scheme a notice cum addendum notifying the changes also issued by o.p. in newspapers, therefore it cannot be said notice was not given to the complainant. The o.p. stated that every investor in the mutual fund is advised to read of the scheme related documents carefully before making any investment. Accordingly, the complainant should have read the scheme information document before submitting the additional purchase request. The said scheme is an open ended equity link savings scheme and it is clearly stated that the investment is subject to a statutory lock in period of 3 years from the date of allotment. The complainant is entitled to redeem the amount only after the statutory lock in period of 3 years and accordingly responded to the immense of the complainant. The complainant filed this case in order to extort money from the o.p. and there was no deficiency in service and as such, o.p. has prayed for dismissal of the case.
On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:
- Whether the amount invested by the complainant in respect of Rs.1 lakh in SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme without the consent of the complainant.
- Whether the complainant will be entitled to get the relief as prayed for.
Decision with reasons:
All the points are taken up together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
Ld. lawyer for the complainant argued that SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan was created in 2013 and the complainant though wanted to invest further sum of Rs.1 lakh in respect of SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme but the said amount was converted to SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan Dividend without approval of the applicant and the said act was made by o.p. without the consent of the complainant as a result of which the complainant filed this case and prayed for refund of the amount of Rs.1 lakh plus interest and compensation.
Ld. lawyer for the o.p. submitted that there was no suppression of fact by o.p. to the complainant in respect of the said advertisement and the scheme was opened as per SEBI’s circular and the complainant put his signature on the application form after going through the terms and conditions of the said scheme. The complainant after the lock in period has already received an amount of Rs.1,40,000/-, therefore the claim as made by the complainant cannot be entertained.
Considering the submissions of the respective parties it appears that the complainant though invested an amount of Rs.1 lakh but he claimed that he had the idea of investing the said amount in the scheme known as SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan Dividend but he had no such instruction to invest the said amount in the scheme known as SBI MF Magnum Tax Gain Scheme Direct Plan Dividend. In this respect we should consider that the complainant is a state govt. retired employee and he is a pensioner and he after going through the form for opening the said scheme put his signature and there was an advertisement to the effect regarding the information of scheme of mutual fund and the said information circulated to all the daily newspapers. The complainant after going through the form as well as the terms and conditions of the said scheme for investment of the amount went through the same and put his signature, therefore it cannot be said that the o.p. had practiced in fraud upon the complainant in investment of the amount of the complainant in the said scheme.
Apart from the said fact the complainant has already received Rs.1,40,000/- from the o.p., therefore we hold that the complainant cannot have any grievance against the o.p. and accordingly we hold that the case is to be disposed of by awarding some cost for creating harassment by o.p. to the complainant. Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, ordered,
That the Case no. CC/90/2015 is allowed on contest with cost against the o.p. The o.p. is directed to pay to the complainant a sum of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand) only within 30 days from the date of communication of this order, i.d. an interest @ 10% p.a. shall accrue over the entire sum due to the credit of the complainant till full realization.
Supply certified copy of this order to the parties free of cost.
