UNION OF INDIA Vs. RAMESH MAKIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AFTER hearing counsel for the revision petitioner and going through the records we have unhesitatingly come to the conclusion that the District Forum and the State Commission were in error in holding that there was a deficiency in service on the part of the postal authorities in not encashing the National Savings Certificate when demand was made for payment by the complainant. The certificate in question stood in the sole name of the deceased wife of the complainant and under the relevant rules the complainant could not have expected payment of the money due under the said certificate on the date of its maturity except on production by him of satisfactory proof of the fact that he is the legal heir of the deceased entitled to collect the proceeds of the National Savings Certificate. This the complainant had not done, and hence the postal authorities were justified in insisting on these formalities being gone through before they acceded to the request of the complainant for payment of the amount due under the certificate. The period of six months which was consumed in the process does not appear to us to constitute delay on the part of the postal authorities in the aforementioned matter and hence we hold that there was no deficiency in service so as to entitle the complainant to claim any relief from the opposite party under the Consumer Protection Act. The orders passed by the District Forum and the State Commission are hereby set aside and the complaint petition is dismissed. No costs.