M.G.RAVINARAYANA vs PROFESSIONAL COURIERS

IN this complaint the Complainant prays for the award of Rs. 2.00 crores as compensation against the Opposite Party i.e. Professional Couriers. According to the allegation in the complaint, the Complainant sent a consignment consisting of seven files pertaining to I screen play and synopsis for a T.V. serial to be approved by the Doordarshan on a national net work, through the Opposite Party. The said consignment also contained a demand draft of Rs. 2,000/-drawn on Canara Bank in favour of Director General, Doordarshan, Mandi House, New Delhi. According to the Complainant the consignment was a valuable one and if the Opposite Party had delivered it he would have been benefited to the extent of over Rs. 2.00 crores in addition to the audio and video copy rights, fame and matters of the kind. The Opposite Party had either deliverately or by oversight has not delivered 4 the consignment to the addressee.

THE Opposite Party in the counter took up various preliminary objections. On merits it denied that there was non-delivery of the consignment. It was further pleaded that the documents of delivery were ordinarily kept for three months and in the present case the first query about delivery was made by the Complainant after about 8 months. In spite of it the Opposite Party took several measures for ascertaining delivery. It has not been possible for the Opposite Party to obtain confirmation from Doordarshan in spite of repeated efforts about the receipt of 1 the consignment since all the documents relating to the period of October and November, 1992 have been seized by the CBI and are not available to Doordarshan for verification. The Complainant advanced lengthy argument to show that his consignment was a valuable one and he would have earned profit amounting to crores of rupees. However, we need not go into that question because except the bald allegation of the Complainant that the consignment has not been received by the addressee there is no evidence to prove non-delivery of the consignment. The Opposite Party has said in its counter that the records for three months only are retained and after expiry of that period the records are destroyed and in the present case for the first time the query was made by the Complainant after about 8 months of the sending of the consignment. It was also urged that the confirmation about the delivery of consignment could not be obtained from the Doordarshan Kendra as the record for the relevant period are with the CBI.

WE have considered the matter carefully and are of the opinion that the submissions made on behalf of the Opposite Party have force. Consequently we dismiss the present petition. We make no order as to costs. Y. Krishan

ICONCUR . I would also add that in the consignment note signed by the Complainant as consignor the value of the consignment was not declared. He also did not indicate whether he wanted it to be insured or not. This is particularly relevant inasmuch as there is a declaration in the consignment note that the courier''s liability is limited to Rs. 100/- per consignment for any goods.