National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

Kaustubh Gajanan Dixit Vs. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. and Ors.

MANU/CF/0084/2018

29.01.2018

Consumer

Interference in exercise of revisional jurisdiction is to be made only if there is a material defect or jurisdictional error in concurrent findings recorded by consumer fora below

Present revision petition has been filed under Section 21(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the impugned order, passed by the State Commission in First Appeal, vide which, while dismissing the appeal, the order passed by the District Forum in consumer complaint filed by the present Petitioner, dismissing the said complaint, was upheld. The State Commission observed that, the complainant had suppressed material facts from the Insurance Company by making false and misleading statements before them and hence, he was not entitled to the insurance claim.

In the order made by this Commission in "Vijay Kumar Digambarappa Khanpure vs. Manager, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd. & Anr.", it has been brought out that if a private vehicle is given on hire, it may not constitute a fundamental breach of the terms and conditions of the Policy. In the present case, it has been established that the vehicle had been given on hire to Mr. Panda and his wife for travelling to Pune. There are affidavits on record in support of this contention as brought out in the report of the investigator. However, in addition to the issue of hire, there is another aspect of the case that the complainant made a false and misleading statement before the OP Insurance Company, while submitting his claim that he was himself driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. This version is admitted by the complainant in the body of the consumer complaint as well. The State Commission as well as the District Forum have rightly observed that, the complainant tried to suppress material facts from the OP Insurance Company by making false and misleading statements before them.

In the light of these facts, it is held that the consumer fora rightly came to the conclusion that, the complainant was not entitled to be granted any compensation in terms of the insurance policy in question. There is, therefore, no illegality, irregularity or jurisdictional error in the orders passed by the consumer fora below. Further, it is a settled legal proposition that interference in the exercise of the revisional jurisdiction is to be made only if there is a material defect or jurisdictional error in the concurrent findings recorded by the consumer fora below. There is no merit in this revision petition and the same is ordered to be dismissed and the orders passed by the Consumer Fora below are upheld.

Tags : Compensation Grant Insurance claim

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