UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED Vs. KAUSABAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE original respondent Nos. 2 and 3 have preferred this appeal aggrieved by the judgment and order passed by the District Forum, Nanded, whereby insurance amount of Rs. 1,00,000 with cost of Rs. 2,000 and compensation of Rs. 5,000 towards mental agony has been granted to the original complainant

(2.) WE have heard Advocate Mrs. Deepa Chapalgaonkar holding for Adv. Mr. S.G.Chapalgaonkar for appellant. None for respondent Nos. 1, 2, 3. We also perused the papers placed before this Commission. The original complainant Kausabai who is the respondent No. 1 in this appeal filed the complaint before District Forum, Nanded claiming compensation from the appellants herein and the Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 on the ground that her husband Pandurang Surnar died on receiving electric shock when he was going to the field. The cause of his early death is that, the electric wire on the way was hanging due to breaking from electric line and her husband came in contact with it and sustained shock and died on the spot. She also contended that necessary papers were submitted to the appellants through the respondent; thereby claiming the compensation under "Personal Accident Insurance Scheme" and her claim was repudiated. According to her there is deficiency in service.

(3.) BOTH the appellants herein and the Respondent No. 3 appeared before the District Forum and filed their respective written version. The Respondent No. 2 failed to appear in spite of notice. The District Forum after hearing both contesting parties and perusing the evidence came to conclusion that, Respondent No. 1 i.e. org. complainant is the consumer and there is deficiency in service. The District Forum observed that, the necessary documents namely death certificate, bank pass book, heirship certificate, 7/12 extract, etc. were already submitted through Respondent Nos. 1,2 and 3 to the appellants. It is further observed that the appellants took no steps for disposal of the complainant. The perusal of the papers placed before this Commission shows that necessary documents were already submitted to the appellant herein for granting compensation. The appellants while repudiating the claim vide letter dated 9.9.2011 simplystated that the claim is repudiated due to non -submission of claim form with documents within stipulated time. However, it is not stated which particular documents were not submitted within stipulated time. As per the written version of the appellant filed before the District Forum almost all documents were not submitted. However, perusal of papers shows that all the necessary documents were submitted to the appellant. Therefore, we find that the District Forum has appreciated properly the material placed before it. We are of the view that there is deficiency in providing service by the appellant and the Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 to the Respondent No. 1 herein. Hence, the District Forum has rightly awarded compensation for accidental death of complainants' husband and for mental agony with cost. There is no merit in this appeal and it deserves to be dismissed. Hence,