Indian Airlines Ltd. vs JOGINDER SINGH

INDIAN Airlines Ltd., having its principal office at Airlines House, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, New Delhi, through General Manager (Commercial) through S. Jagbir Singh (Jagbir Singh), Station Manager of INDIAN Airlines Ltd., at 39, Court Road, Amritsar, has filed this appeal under Sections 15 and 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the order dated 25.6.1999 of the District Forum, Amritsar. The prayer in the appeal is to set aside the above mentioned order and allow the appeal.

THE case of the complainant is that he had purchased a ticket No. 737038 on 12.1.1999 to travel by Indian Airlines. He had to travel by air from Sharjah to Amritsar on 15.1.1999 on the basis of that ticket. He had purchased one new Colour T.V. Hitachi Make 20" from M/s. Ali Shoukat Electronics, Al Ain-Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. for an amount of 750 DHS. He had handed over the T.V. set and other goods to Indian Airlines Authorities at Sharjah while boarding Indian Airlines Flight No. IC-0882. THE Airbus instead of landing at Amritsar Rajasansi Airport, landed at New Delhi. In this way, flight was terminated at Delhi without disclosing the reason for such termination of the flight. THE complainant and other co-passengers staged a Dharna at the Airport at the counter of the opposite party/appellant. Opposite party thereafter arranged an alternative mode of transport and brought the passengers and their goods to Amritsar and some of the passengers were dropped on the way. THE allegation in the complaint is that the baggage of the passengers was not properly handed over to them, as a result of which the Colour T.V. purchased by the complainant was damaged in transit. THE complainant had also to undergo lot of inconvenience, harassment and mental agony on account of negligence of the opposite party. Feeling aggrieved, he filed the complaint, asking relief. The opposite party denied any deficiency in service on their part. It was stated that the damage to the T.V. set was not reported by the complainant at Delhi Airport while receiving delivery of the baggage. It was stated that the flight was terminated at Delhi due to bad weather, announcement of which was made at Sharjah. The surface transport was arranged for passengers including the complainant. All the passengers collected their baggage from the Conveyor Belt themselves and no damage was reported by any passenger including the complainant. Therefore, it was prayed that the complaint may be dismissed with costs.

The District Forum accepted the complaint with costs of Rs. 1,000/- and directed the opposite party to pay 750 DHS or an equivalent amount of Indian currency, the price of the T.V. which got damaged in transit. Along with this, the opposite party was directed to pay the difference of air fare from New Delhi to Amritsar.

IN appeal before us, Mr. Vijay Sehgal, Advocate appeared for the appellant and Mr. Sandeep Chopra, Advocate appeared for the respondent. Counsel for the appellant has vehemently argued that the T.V. set was handed over to the complainant at Conveyor Belt inside the Delhi Airport before custom check up in good condition and thereafter the complainant himself took the T.V. set upto Beas. In order to substantiate his argument, the Counsel has also referred to condition Nos. 5 and 6 of the Air Ticket, which reads as under : "5. Receipt without complaint of registered baggage on the termination of the journey shall be prima facie evidence that the baggage has been delivered correctly and in good condition. 6. The obligation of the Company is expressly limited to the journey between the airports of departure and destination and shall not in any event subsist previous or subsequent thereto, and in particular, no part of any journey undertaken by the passenger, whether such journey be by land or water-borne, previous or subsequent to the carriage specified on the ticket shall be deemed to form part of such carriage."

ON the basis of said conditions, the Counsel has argued that since the T.V. set was delivered to the complainant at the Conveyor Belt and thereafter the complainant himself carried the same to Beas, no negligence is attributed on their part. It has further been argued by the Counsel that no complaint was registered by the complainant that T.V. set was in damaged condition when it was handed over to him at New Delhi by the Airlines Authorities. It has further been argued by the Counsel that as per condition No. 6 the responsibility of Airlines to deliver the baggage of the complainant was limited at the station where he was dropped i.e. New Delhi Airport and on that station, complainant was handed over his T.V. set in good condition. The flight had terminated at New Delhi due to bad weather and thereafter as a good gesture, mode of transport was arranged by the Airlines Authorities. We find force in the contention of the Counsel for the appellant. The flight was terminated at New Delhi due to bad weather and the complainant got his T.V. set retired at that station only, and thereafter from that station he himself carried his baggage. No evidence, whatsoever, has been produced on record by the complainant that T.V. set in damaged condition was handed over to him by the Airlines Authorities at New Delhi or at Beas. If it was so, he should have complained at the New Delhi Airport. The Airlines had arranged the bus service for the passengers, coolies carried the baggage or the complainant himself carried the T.V. to the bus, is not known. While alighting at Beas also, the complainant did not make any complaint about the damage caused to the T.V. There is not any evidence on file to prove the damage caused due to the negligence of the Indian Airlines. Therefore, the District Forum has gone wrong in allowing the cost of T.V. to the complainant in the absence of any cogent evidence. As regards the payment of difference of fare of air flight and bus from Delhi to Amritsar is concerned, it has been argued by the Counsel for the appellant that the flight was terminated due to bad weather at Delhi, from where the bus was arranged by the Airlines Authorities from Delhi to Amritsar without claiming any additional charges from the passengers. We find force in the contention of the Counsel. The flight was terminated at Delhi due to bad weather which was a natural fact and Airlines Authorities are not to be blamed for that. Thereafter, they arranged a bus for the passengers without claiming any additional charges. Therefore, it cannot be held that Airlines Authorities were deficient in rendering service to the complainant, for which they can be asked to pay difference of air fare and bus between New Delhi to Amritsar. For the reasons recorded above, this appeal is allowed; order of the District Forum dated 25.6.1999 is set aside and complaint stands dismissed. However, there will be no order as to costs. Appeal allowed.