BHARTIYA SANSKRITI SANSTHAN Vs. INDIAN AIRLINES LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Complainant as well as Opposite Parties before the State Commission have filed these Appeals against the order and judgment dated 10.10.06 passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Delhi (in short, 'the State Commission') in Complaint Case No. 218/1997 whereby the State Commission while partly allowing the complaint filed by the Bhartiya Sanskriti Sansthan, has directed the Respondent Airlines to pay a lump sum compensation of 50,000/- to the Complainant towards mental agony and harassment.

(2.) The case of the complainant, Bhartiya Sanskriti Sansthan, is that it is a voluntary organization engaged in propagation and promotion of official language Hindi and the diverse culture of India. It organizes various conferences/meetings within and outside the country for the said purpose. It organized a three day "Seventh All India Official Language Conference from April 21-24, 1997 at Peerless Resorts, Port Blair, Andaman which was to be inaugurated by the then Lt. Governor and attended by the Chief Secretary, distinguished Parliamentarians and dignitaries of the various organizations. It booked 60 seats for its delegates from Calcutta to Port Blair and back with the Respondent Airlines. Respondent Airlines confirmed 56 seats in CD-285/21 flight of Indian Airlines on 21.4.97 from Calcutta to Port Blair and return from Port Blair to Calcutta by CD-286/24 flight on 24.4.97 vide PNR No. HNY-67 and HEG 97. All the members of the delegation reached at the Calcutta Airport more than one hour before the departure of the flight but the check in staff of the Respondent Airlines available at the Airport permitted only 53 persons to board and the remaining three persons, namely, Dr. Madhu Barua, Chairperson of the Complainant, Dr. Ved Pratap Vedic, Honorary Chairman of the Complainant and Sh. Akshay Sharma, Executive Director of the Complainant were not allowed to check in on the plea that their names were not on the booking list available with them. Since these three persons were the main functionaries of the Complainant involved in organizing the entire conference, the check in Staff of the Respondent Airlines allowed Dr. Ved Partap Vedick and Dr. Madhu Barua to board and in their places other two passengers, namely, Parvin Kumar Mittal and. Ramesh Sahu were de-boarded. Akshya Sharma was not permitted to board on the flight. Parvin Kumar Mittal and Akshay Sharma travelled to Port Blair on the next available flight on the 3rd day of the conference which was the last day of the conference. The check in staff permitted the group to carry only 100 Kg. of baggage as against the 1000 Kg. of baggage which was permissible to be carried with the group as a result of which certain packages containing shields and gifts to be offered as "honour" to the distinguished dignitaries attending the conference could not be carried. A notice was sent to the Respondent Airlines on 7.5.99 in response to which Respondent regretted the inconvenience vide letter dated 22.5.97. Complainant, being aggrieved, filed the complaint before the State Commission claiming a sum of Rs.18,00,000/- along with interest towards compensation.

(3.) Respondent Airlines, on being served, entered appearance and filed its written statement resisting the complaint, inter-alia, on the grounds; that the Complainants were to travel by IC-285 on 21.4.97 from Calcutta to Port Blair in a group of 49 passengers. The scheduled departure time of the flight was 0530 hours and the Complainants were required to report at the Airport 75 minutes prior to the departure of the Aircraft, i.e., 4.45 hours; that the Complainant group reported at check-in-counter at 0510 hours, i.e., 55 minutes late to their reporting time; that the check-in counter was closed at 5 P.M.; that as a gesture of goodwill, the counter was re-opened for check-in and the flight left 45 minutes late at 0615 hours due to late acceptance of the group; that none of the passengers of the group was denied boarding; that Dr. V.P. Vedic, Ms. Madhu Baruah and Akshay Sharma did not check in or report at the counter till 0524 hours; that no group member was de-boarded against the boarding of Dr. V.P. Vedick and Dr. Madhu Barua; that Akshay Sharma did not report at the Airport for check in and he might have postponed his journey; that whatever baggage was produced at the check in counter was booked as registered baggage; that the staff members extended all possible co-operation to accept the group members even by delaying the flight by 45 minutes; that there was no deficiency in service on their part.