FA/2009/158. Case: Sri. Amitava Roy, Proprietor of M/s Anjali Drugs Vs The New India Assurance Company Limited. West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
| Case Number | FA/2009/158 |
| Counsel | For the Appellant: Sri. Sujit Moitra, Advocate and For the Respondent: Sri. Smarajit Dey, Advocate |
| Judges | Sri. Aloke Chakrabarti, President, Sri. A.K. Ray, Member, Smt. Silpi Majumder, Member |
| Issue | Consumer Protection Act, 1986 - Section 24A |
| Judgement Date | September 15, 2009 |
| Court | West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission |
Order:
S. Majumder, Member
The Appellant-Complainant being aggrieved by the judgment passed by the Ld. District Forum,Nadia, on 24.09.2008 has preferred this appeal, wherein the Ld. Forum has dismissed the complaint petition as barred by limitation u/s 24A of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 without admitting the complaint.
The brief facts of the case of the Complainant in the complaint petition were that being the proprietor of M/s. Anjali Drugs he obtained a money policy from the O.P.-Insurance Company on 21.02.2003 which remained valid up to 20.02.2004 and the assured sum was of Rs.1,00,00,000/-. An employee of the Complainant was entrusted to deposit a sum of Rs.56,000/- on 21.07.2003, Rs.50,200/- on 06.09.2003, Rs.47,950/- on 16.09.2003, Rs.1,01,700/- on 29.09.2003 and Rs.41,100/- on 17.11.2003 for depositing to U.C.O. Bank, Ranaghat Branch. The said employee did not deposit those amounts to U.C.O. Bank. The Complainant filed a criminal case against him for misappropriation of money. The Complainant on 30.11.2003 sent a letter to the O.P. for seeking advice as to his next course of action and the Manager of the O.P. in his letter dated 02.12.2003 communicated the Complainant that they were not in a position to entertain the claim and they closed the claim as ''no claim''. The Complainant did not claim any money in his letter-dated 30.11.2003. On 08.11.2004 by a letter the Complainant informed the entire incident and claimed insured money as per policy, but no action was taken by the OP. Thereafter the Complainant sent Advocate''s letter on 17.02.2008 claiming the loss of money in transit and interest @10% p.a. on the said amount. The OP by issuing a letter-dated 06.03.2008 has denied the liability to pay the claim. Then finding no other alternative the Complainant by filing the complaint before the District Forum had prayed for certain reliefs.
In the memorandum of appeal the Appellant-Complainant has stated the same fact as stated by him in the complaint petition. It has been mentioned by the Appellant that the Forum below has erroneously held that the complaint is barred by limitation u/s 24A of the C.P. Act. The Forum has erred in deciding the date of cause of action. It has held that cause of action arose on 21.07.2003 to 17.11.2003 on the first occasion and lastly on 02.12.2003, but actually the cause of arose on 06.03.2008, while the OP repudiated the claim of the Complainant in writing. According to the Appellant the...
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