(1.) The instant petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India is directed against an order dated September 6, 1996, passed by the Bench in S. C. Case No. 183/A/96 passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission reversing the order dated March 27, 1996, passed in C. D. F. Case No. 1046 of 1995, dated March 27, 1996. The opposite party in the present revision in his capacity as complainant has initiated the said proceeding before the forum alleging deficiency in service against the respondents/opposite parties in the matter of payment of matured value of certain fixed deposits lying with the concerned bank. The complainant's case is that he received Rs. 90,000 as sale proceeds by selling his only residential house and the land appertaining to it at Barrackpore. According to the version of the complainant the transaction involved capital gains under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The entire amount was invested in accordance with the provisions of Section 54E of the Income-tax Act, 1961, in two fixed deposits for a period of three years each. The said deposits were of Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 70,000 respectively deposited on December 22, 1990, and January 11, 1991. Both the deposits were held with the bank for the full term of three years and there was accrual of interest thereon at the rate of 11 per cent per annum with quarterly rests through the Savings Bank Account No. 3407. The deposit of Rs. 20,000 matured on December 21, 1993, and the deposit of Rs. 70,000 matured on January 11, 1994, and in respect of both the deposits the deposit received was duly discharged and presented at the bank with written instructions to credit the same to the bank account of the said complainant.
(2.) That some time on January 30, 1994, when the appellant visited the bank a letter dated December 30, 1993, was handed over to him by the manager of the concerned bank in which he was asked to submit clearance from his Income-tax Officer in Form "G". A similar letter was also sent on January 7, 1994, seeking clearance of the Income-tax Department. The complainant contended that it was not necessary when the deposit was for three years and asked for the circular on the basis of which such clearance was insisted on. The same was followed by issuance of letter taking the stand that the amount of Rs. 90,000 held in fixed deposit with the bank was otherwise exempted from capital gains tax under Section 53 of the Income tax Act, 1961. This was followed by several correspondences but the bank persisted in its contention that the deposited amounts could not be realised without tax clearance certificate and withdraw the amounts without payment of any interest accrued thereon. The complainant filed a complaint before the Calcutta District Forum for return of the said amount with penal interest and compensation.
(3.) Initially the case was taken up for hearing on contest before the Calcutta District Forum and it was contended that they were guided by the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India that the bank could not make payment against fixed deposit after maturity until submission of Form "G" along with the approval of the Assessing Officer. It was also agitated that the exemption limit under Section 53 of the Income-tax Act against capital gain by sale of landed property was withdrawn with effect from April 1, 1993. The Calcutta District Forum after hearing both the parties held that the matter involved important questions of law relating to the Income-tax Act and the Consumer Forum was not competent to interpret the provisions of the said Act. In that view of the matter the complainant's case was dismissed as not maintainable.