AMBALAL SARABHAI ENTERPRISES LTD Vs. KAMALA BALARAMAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these five appeals have been filed against a common order passed by the District Forum in O. P. Nos.191,192,193,194 and 195/1995. Excepting the petitioners being different, the opposite party in all the petitions is the same, and as stated by the District Forum in its order, the facts and the points of law involved in all these matters are also same. Hence these five appeals can also be disposed of in one common order.

(2.) The respondents (complainants) are the debenture holders of the appellant (opposite party) Company. Their case is that on the interest payable to them, the Company had deducted Income Tax at source without notice to them. They were not Income Tax assessees and they were not liable to pay income tax. The said act of the opposite party in deducting income tax from their interest amounts to deficiency in service on their part. To get the tax thus deducted at source refunded, they underwent a lot of trouble. Thus alleging, the complaints were filed for compensation.

(3.) The opposite party contended that the complainants are not consumers within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act and therefore the complaints are not maintainable. They further contended that there was no deficiency in service on their part and they deducted the tax as per the law and therefore there was no fault on their part. Therefore the complaints were liable to be dismissed.