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Judgment
C.Viswanath, J
The present Revision Petition is filed by the Petitioner under Section 21(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against Order passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, M.P. (hereinafter referred to as the "State Commission") in Appeal No. 1909/2016 dated 04.05.2017.
In the Complaint Case, on 29.05.1998, the Respondent/Complainant made payment of Rs.25,000/- to the Petitioner/Opposite Party against membership to get a Plot of 2500 sq. ft. in Shell City Indore to be developed by the Petitioner. The total value of the aforesaid Plot was fixed as Rs.2,52,000/-. On 31.01.2003 the Respondent gave the agreed amount of Rs.2,52,000/- to the Petitioner. Thereafter, on various occasions the Petitioner gave assurances to the Respondent that he would be informed as soon as the work would be completed.The Petitioner further assured the Respondent that after giving the Plot, registry proceedings would be made. However, despite issue of legal notice by the Respondent, the Petitioner did not register the Plot in favour of the Respondent. A Complaint was, thus, filed by the Respondent alleging deficiency of service on the part of the Petitioner.
1.
The Complaint was contested by the Petitioner stating that the receipt produced by the Respondent was wrong and was never issued by the Petitioner and that the Respondent filed the Complaint after ten years of cause of action.The Complaint was, thus, time barred. According to the Petitioner, the Respondent filed the Complaint with an intention to malign the image of the Petitioner. The Petitioner did not commit any deficiency in service and hence, prayed to dismiss the Complaint.
District Forum, vide order dated 19.09.2016, allowed the Complaint directing the Petitioner to pay Rs.2,52,500/- with simple interest of 8% p.a. from 31.03.2003. The Petitioner was further directed to pay Rs.10,000/- for physical and mental agony caused to the Respondent and Rs.1,000/- towards the cost of the Complaint.
Being aggrieved of the order passed by the District Forum, the Petitioner filed an Appeal before the State Commission. The State Commission, vide order dated 04.05.2017, dismissed the Appeal of the Petitioner for want of prosecution.
Being aggrieved by the order passed by the State Commission, the Petitioner filed the present Revision Petition before this Commission.
Heard the Learned Counsel for the Petitioner. I have also carefully gone through the evidence placed on record.
As rightly observed by the District Forum, from a perusal of the evidence and documents produced by the Respondent, it is clear that the Respondent made a total payment of Rs.2,52,500/- on various dates upto 31.03.2003.The Petitioner also had not been able to prove the allegation made by him that receipts produced by the Respondent were not issued by him.The Consumer Complaint is also not time-barred, since after depositing the total amount with the Petitioner, the deposited amount of the Respondent was still lying with the Petitioner and therefore, the District Forum rightly observed that the cause of action should be considered day-to-day constantly continued.
From a perusal of the State Commission Order, it is found that no pre-deposit receipt was filed by the Petitioner as asked by the Court. Also, no application for condonation of delay of almost 40 days was filed by the Petitioner. The Petitioner did not appear before the Bench on 08.02.2017 as well as on 19.04.2017. On 08.02.2017, even a service post-card was issued to the Petitioner informing the next date of hearing, but none appeared on 04.05.2017 as well. Thus, the State Commission dismissed the Appeal for want of prosecution.
In view of above, despite payment of the entire amount by the Respondent, the Petitioner by not executing the registered sale-deed of the plot in favour of the Respondent and not handing over the possession of the same, has committed deficiency in service. The Revision Petition is hereby dismissed and the Order passed by the District Forum is upheld.