BAJAJ ALLIANZ LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED Vs. SUNITA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These revision petitions arise out of different orders passed by the State Commission dismissing the appeals preferred by the petitioner company against the orders of the District Forum, on the ground of limitation as well as on merits. Two consumer complaints were instituted against the petitioner company before the concerned District Forum. The complaints were allowed by the District Forum by way of two separate orders both dated 19.3.2018. Two different appeals before the State Commission against the orders of the District Forum were instituted. One appeal was instituted on 31.1.2020 whereas the other appeal was preferred on 10.2.2020. The appeals having been dismissed, the petitioner co. is before this Commission.

(2.) The applications which the petitioner company had filed before the State Commission seeking condonation of delay in filing the appeals are stated to be identical and to the extent they are relevant, the applications read as under:-

(3.) It would thus be seen that the condonation of delay was sought on the ground that copy of the impugned order as well as the entire record was handed over to one Rajinder Singh Kalsi the then Zonal Legal Manager of the petitioner company based at Chandigarh but no action was taken by Mr. Rajinder Singh Kalsi to challenge the order passed by the District Forum. This is also the case of the petitioner that Mr. Kalsi left the job in December 2018 and the company came to know of the order of the District Forum only when bailable warrants in the execution applications were issued in November, 2019. Thereafter, the petitioner company contacted the Advocate whom it had engaged to represent it before the District Forum and came to know that the entire record had been handed over by the counsel to Mr. Rajinder Singh Kalsi. The said Zonal Legal Manager then made a recommendation to the Head Office of the company at Pune for filing appeals and thereafter some time was taken in preparation of the appeal which came to be filed after a delay of 645 days.