New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs MOHD. KASIF

THIS is an appeal under Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act (hereinafter called the ''Act'') against the judgment and order dated 27.4.2001 passed by District Consumer Forum-II, Bareilly in Complaint Case No. 287/1999.

INITIALLY a complaint under Section 12 of the Act was preferred with the allegation that the vehicle in question was insured with the opposite party/appellant and since it met with an accident on 2.2.1999 during the currency of the insurance policy and since on claim the loss was not reimbursed and according to the assessment made by the approved Surveyor the repudiation so done by the appellant/Insurance Company was arbitrary based on no material and was the outcome of arbitrary exercise of the discretion. In the written statement filed by the appellant, the factum of arriving at a contract between the appellant and the consumer was admitted. Even the accident position was admitted but the repudiation was done, hence the complaint was preferred. During the course of hearing of the complaint, parties to the proceedings have filed their respective documents.

The learned District Forum after perusing the complaint, written statement and other materials available on the record and hearing the submissions so raised by the learned Counsel for the parties came to the conclusion that the assessment so assessed by the approved surveyor was to be paid by way of indemnification and that was so done.

AGGRIEVED against the same the present appeal has been preferred. It appears that an application for impleadment of Tata Finance Limited was made, although initially, objection was raised by the learned Counsel for the opposite party that a copy was not served, yet the objection to that effect has been filed.

ON looking to the averments made in the application and after taking into consideration that in the instant case for proper adjudication the Tata Finance Limited is not one of the necessary parties much less the proper party, the amendment application is rejected. Since the case was taken up in the revised list and Mr. Tandon for the opposite party was available and there was no one for the appellant, we had no option except to have a view over the impugned order and the materials with care and caution with close circumspection. The only point which survives for active consideration in the instant case is as to whether the impugned order is justified and is acceptable in the eye of law. In the instant case an independent Surveyor Sri V.P. Maheshwari had inspected the vehicle in question and after having a look over all attending circumstances came to a conclusion that the final loss after deduction of salvage will come to Rs. 1,25,000/-.

THE proceeding before the Consumer Forum is a mere quasi-judicial and summary in nature. Once there was a Surveyor''s report and issuing of the survey report was objected merely on the ground that complete affidavit was not there, the case of the Insurance Company should not have been totally not non-suit. However, Surveyor''s report on merit was not assailed. THE approach of the District Forum should have been to be objectively satisfied as to whether the conclusion is based on the proper statistics and as to whether the repudiation is just and proper. That approach was not at all made by the learned District Forum. We had occasion to go to the assessment of the Surveyor''s report and proper materials have been furnished to come to a conclusion that the loss after deduction of salvage came to Rs. 1,25,000/-. THE Insurance Co./appellants were thus under obligation to reimburse the loss to the complainant on account of the damage being caused to the vehicles for which there was currency of the insurance. Since in the instant case repudiation was done arbitrarily without accepting the Surveyor''s report, the repudiation automatically becomes arbitrary and thus it makes Insurance Company liable to pay the interest. However, District Forum should not have accepted the total claim of Rs. 3,50,000/-.

CONSEQUENTLY, it is so ordered. Looking to all the facts, it is appropriate to award the interest of 9% from the date of the claim. The appeal thus partly succeeds. The judgment and order passed by the District Forum is set aside and is modified to that extent that the complainant is entitled to get a sum of Rs. 1,25,000/- along with interest @ 9% from the date of lodging of the claim petition. The stay order passed if any shall stand automatically discharged. Appeal partly allowed.