M.K.BASU,PRESIDENT - (1.) THIS appeal arises out of the judgment and order dated 19th March, 2004 passed by the Howrah District Consumer Forum in its Case No. 144 of 2003 whereunder the Forum dismissed, on contest without cost, a complaint filed by Sri Basanta Kumar Mukherjee (the present respondent) against the New India Assurance Co. Ltd. (the present appellant) but such dismissal of the complaint was subject to the observations in the body of the judgment to the effect that the O.P. - Insurance Company was to settle the claim of the complainant within one month from the date of receipt of the duly filled in claim form from the complainant and the complainant was to submit such a filled and signed claim form before the O.Ps. within one month from the date of this order. Being aggrieved by this the O.P. - Insurance Company has preferred the present appeal challenging the order as illegal, invalid and liable to be set aside.
(2.) THE case of the complainant was that he purchased a Janata Personal Accident Insurance Policy for Rs. 1,00,000 for the period from 1st November, 2002 to 31st October, 2015. On 22nd October, 2002 at about 9.30 p.m. two miscreants named Sukumar Sardar and Sanatan Patra were abusing the passers -by in filthy language at Andul Bazar while they were in intoxicated mood. The complainant protested against their such acts and as a result those two miscreants being furious attacked the complainant with razor and Bhojali and assulted him mercilessly. The complainant sustained bleeding injuries in his left eye and face and other parts of his body escaping somehow from the place of occurrence. He went to a local doctor named Dr. B.R. Prodhan and received medical treatment from him on that very night and thereafter for better medical treatment he went to West Bank Hospital at Andul Road on 25th October, 2002 where he was medically treated by a specialist Dr. Tapan Kumar Das and such treatment went on till 11th February, 2003 but in spite of the best treatment he lost his vision of left eye. The complainant then lodged an F.I.R. on 13th November, 2002 before the Officer -in -Charge, Sankarail Police Station and also filed a complaint before the Superintendent of Police, Howrah on 14th November, 2002. Thereafter, he submitted an application before the O.P. No. 3 i.e., New India Assurance Company, Howrah Branch seeking grant of accidental benefit as per the terms of the insurance policy. The O.P. No. 2 sent a letter to him on 11th December, 2002 to which the complainant gave a reply on 27th December, 2002 and thereafter on 30th December, 2002 the O.Ps. sent another letter to him in response to that the complainant submitted the relevant papers to the O.P. No. 2 on 7th April, 2003. These documents included certificate of policy in dispute, claim form, doctor's certificate, other medical papers like prescription etc. but the O.P. did not give any positive reply. Then he sent an Advocate's letter dated 18th June, 2003 but the O.Ps. did not care to give any reply nor they allowed his claim for insurance benefit. Hence, he filed this complaint before the Consumer Forum claiming a sum of Rs. 50,000 as compensation.
(3.) THE O.P. contested the case by filing a written version challenging the maintainability of the case and denying other material allegations of the complaint and contending that the complainant had not submitted any prescribed claim form although such a form was sent to him and he remained silent even after receiving the letter of the O.P. dated 20 June, 2003. The further case of the O.P. was that the papers relating to the criminal case allegedly instituted by the complainant and also the paper showing the nature of accident of his damaged eye were also not submitted and hence they repudiated the claim quite rightly. According to the O.Ps. the case was liable to be dismissed with cost. After perusing the materials on record and considering the arguments advanced by both sides the Forum passed the above mentioned order.;