Case: Central Bank Of India Vs. Jagbir Singh

3. Brief facts of the case, giving rise to this appeal, are that respondent Jagbir Singh purchased a tractor bearing registration No. HR-14B-3913, after getting loan sanctioned from the appellant-Bank. In terms of conditions of loan the respondent was making deposits of the loan instalments of loan to the Bank. The vehicle was initially insured as required under Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, but no premium of insurance was paid by the respondent for the period after 25.5.2005. On 24.9.2007 at about 11.50 a.m., an accident occurred between the above vehicle and motorcycle bearing registration No. DL-3S-AY-0421, in which Pankaj son of Babu Ram Garg, died due to rash and negligent driving on the part of Diwan Singh, driver of the tractor owned by respondent Jagbir Singh. The parents of the deceased filed claim petition No. 208/11/2007 before Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-II, Dwarka Courts, New Delhi, which was allowed by said Tribunal, vide its order dated 17.11.2012 awarding compensation to the tune of Rs.4,01,460/- with 7.5% interest per annum, against driver and owner of the vehicle. It has not been disputed between the parties that on the date of accident the vehicle No. HR-14B-3913 was not insured with any of the insurance companies, as required under Section 146 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.4. The respondent filed complaint (No. 157 of 208) before District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Jhajjar, praying that the Central Bank of India (appellant), i.e., the creditor bank should be made liable to pay the compensation, awarded against him by the Tribunal. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, vide its order dated 11.11.2009, held that the Bank (present appellant) is liable for the legal consequences for not getting the insurance renewed. The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Haryana, Panchkula, before whom the Central Bank of India (creditor bank) filed First Appeal No. 40 of 2010, vide its order dated 18.10.2012, dismissing the appeal on the ground that in terms of loan agreement the Bank has a right to recover insurance premium, held that the Bank cannot escape its liability. It appears that the Bank finally approached NCDRC by filing Revision Petition No. 3648 of 2013, but same was filed with delay of 230 days, and NCDRC in its wisdom did not find the explanation advanced for condonation of delay as sufficient, as such, the revision petition was dismissed as barred by limitation. Hence, this appeal through special

Reasoning: In our opinion, the time taken by the appellant bank in seeking permission to file the revision petition, as the matter had to be processed at various levels, cannot be said to have been not sufficiently explained for the purpose of condonation of delay. Therefore, the impugned order dismissing the revision petition, in the present case, cannot be sustained.7. On the merits of the case, we find that none of the authorities under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, in the case at hand has taken note of the law laid down by this Court on the issue of liability of the financer, in the cases of accident occurred, after the vehicle is purchased with loan sanctioned to the owner of the vehicle.In view of the above discussion and the principle of law laid down by this Court, the impugned order passed by the NCDRC and the orders passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Haryana and the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Jhajjar, are liable to be set aside.