Complaint Case No. 12/09. Case: Manish Gupta Vs National Insurance Company Ltd.. Chhattisgarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
| Case Number | Complaint Case No. 12/09 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: S.K. Gupta, Advocate and For Respondents: Vinod Deshmukh, Advocate |
| Judges | R.S. Sharma, J. (President) and Heena Thakkar, Member |
| Issue | Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) - Section 10; Consumer Protection Act, 1986 - Section 17 |
| Citation | III (2014) CPJ 18 (Chhat.) |
| Judgement Date | May 31, 2014 |
| Court | Chhattisgarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission |
Order:
R.S. Sharma, J. (President)
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The complainant filed this consumer complaint under Section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the O.P. seeking direction to the O.P. to pay insured amount Rs. 92,25,000, interest Rs. 4,60,750, Rs. 1,18,000 paid as rent, compensation for mental agony Rs. 1,00,000, cost of litigation Rs. 5,000 and Advocate fees Rs. 20,000, total Rs. 99,18,750. Brief facts of the complaint are that: the complainant is proprietor of firm K. G. Digital Plate situated at Lakhe Nagar, Raipur and he installed a pre-press unit at Lakhe Nagar, Raipur in the month of November, 2009. In the Pre-Press Unit, articles i.e. Plate Exposing Machine, Processor, 4 P.C., Scanner, 2 U.P.S., 30 batteries, etc. were kept. The complainant purchased the above goods from Germany and Denmark. The machine which is used for directly exposing to conventional plate from the computer is only manufactured by Punch Graphics Company of the Germany. The complainant and Smt. Anita Gupta are partners of the firm Jai Badri Vishal Graphics. The O.P. is a Government of India Undertaking Company and is General Insurance Company and is providing insurance services. The complainant obtained insurance policy from the O.P. for the articles U.V. Setter Processor, Two Computers, Scanner, Office Furniture, Electrical Fitting, Domestic Articles. The firm Jai Badri Vishal Graphics provided U.V. Setter Processor, 2 U.P.S., 2 P.C., 30 Batteries, Sale Cum Debit Note to the employees of Monotech Systems Limited Company at Raipur on 14.5.2010. The Monotech Systems Limited had not paid the price of above items to the firm Jai Jadri Vishal Graphics till date. Monotech Systems Limited was required to take U.V. Setter Processor to Nagpur but the employees of Monotech Systems Limited could not book for transportation of the-said item. The employees of Monotech Systems Limited entrusted the responsibility to transport it from Raipur to Nagpur to the complainant and for this purpose on 17.5.2010, the U.V. Setter Processor was handed over to the complainant. The complainant booked the U.V. Setter Processor, two computers, scanner, office furniture, electrical fitting and domestic articles for transportation to Nagpur through Raipur Delhi Roadways on 17.5.2010 vide Bilty No. 2291 in which the complainant is consignor and consignee both. The booked articles were loaded in truck bearing registration No. M.P. 07-G-2682 and said articles were insured with the O.P. The complainant deposited a sum of Rs. 17,572 towards insurance premium with the O.P. and the O.P. issued Special Voyage Policy No. 285100/21/10/45000000006. The insured value of the articles was Rs. 92,35,000. The Lakhe Nagar, Raipur (C.G.) was no entry area for the heavy vehicles, therefore, truck bearing No. M.P. 07-G-2682 was not loaded in morning and the said truck was loaded in intervening night of 17-18.5.2010 till 1.30 a.m. (midnight), but the scooter was not loaded in the truck due to shortage of space in the truck. On 18.5.2010 at about 8,00 hrs., the complainant received information from the truck owner that the truck met with an accident and fell down and it caught fire. The accident was occurred between Durg and Rajnandgaon. The matter was reported to Police Out Post, Anjora, Police Station Phulgaon, District Durg (C.G.). where First Information Report 265 was recorded. The complainant also made written complaint to the Police Out Post, Anjora, Police Station Phulgaon, District Durg (C.G.) on 20.5.2010 (Annexure C-5) and also submitted claim form before the O.P. (Annexure C-6). O.P. appointed Shri Hitesh Chitalia, as Preliminary Surveyor and he conducted Preliminary Survey oh 21.5.2010 and the complainant co-operated with Shri Hitesh Chitalia in conducting Spot Survey. The complainant took the scrap of burnt machines and articles to his office situated at Lakhe Nagar, Raipur on 22.5.2010. The complainant sent intimation to the O.P. on 24.5.2010 vide Annexure C-7. When the complainant was lifting the scrap of the burnt machines and articles, at that time the owner of the truck No. M.P. 07-G-2682 also came there and he told the complainant that the matter was reported to the Police vide Annexure C-8. The O.P. did not give any response to the claim submitted by the complainant and was avoiding to settle the same. No information was given by the O.P. to the complainant regarding his claim. The complainant wrote letter on 30.5.2011 to the O.P. vide Annexure C-12 to consider his claim sympathetically and pay the claim amount, but the O.P. repudiated his claim vide letter No. 285100 Marine Cargo C1/2011 dated 25.3.2011. M/s. J. Basheer & Associates Surveyors Pvt. Ltd. was appointed by the O.P. for assessment of loss, who submitted report to the O.P. and the O.P. repudiated the claim of the complainant on the ground that the complainant has no insurable interest in the insured articles and his claim was closed declaring "No Claim". The report of the Surveyor was not provided to the complainant and the O.P. has arbitrarily repudiated the claim of the complainant and thus committed deficiency in service as well as unfair trade practice. The complainant sent legal notice to the O.P. and filed this complaint seeking direction to the O.P. to pay insured amount Rs. 92,25,000, interest Rs. 4,60,750, Rs. 1,18,000 paid as rent, compensation for mental agony Rs. 1,00,000, cost of litigation Rs. 5,000 and Advocate fees Rs. 20,000 totalling Rs. 99,18,750.
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The O.P. filed written statement and denied the...
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