STATE BANK OF INDIA Vs. R C SRIVASTAVA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The complainant Sh. R. C. Srivastava and his wife Smt. Santosh Srivastava deposited a sum of Rs. 1 lakh with the petitioner, State Bank of India by way of an FDR on 02.02.2002, for a period of three years. The case of the complainant is that when they approached the Bank, on maturity of the FDR, for making payment to them, they were informed that the said FDR was not transferrable. The complainant thereupon sent a legal notice to the petitioner Bank through their counsel Mr. Pradeep Verma. In the reply sent by the Bank to the aforesaid legal notice, it was claimed that the complainant had taken a loan against the aforesaid FDR and when the FDR matured, the balance was credited to the saving bank account of the complainants.

(2.) Being aggrieved from the stand taken by the Bank, the complainant approached the concerned District Forum by way of a complaint, seeking payment of Rs. 1 lakh with interest besides compensation and costs of litigation.

(3.) The complaint was opposed by the petitioner Bank on the same ground on which it had responded to the legal notice. It was stated in the reply that on 02.12.2002, complainant no. 1 had taken a loan of Rs. 75,000/- from the Bank against the aforesaid FDR and the amount of the loan was duly credited to his saving bank account no. 01190045166. Thereafter, complainant made withdrawals of the said amount from his saving bank account. It was further alleged in the reply that on 03.12.2002, the complainants directed the Bank to close another loan account of Rs. 50,000/- after debiting the outstanding in the said loan account in his saving bank account and acting on the said instructions, a sum of Rs. 51,876/- was transferred from the saving bank account to the loan account no. 01590127318. It was further alleged in the reply that the concerned manager of the Bank being friendly with the complainant, Sh. R. C. Srivastava, complete papers relating to the aforesaid transfers could not be located by the Bank. On maturity of the FDR, the balance amount was credited to the saving bank accounts of the complainants.