Follow Us
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 28
The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Indusind Bank Limited to pay Rs 35 lakh to a Sangrur-based trucker, Simarjit Singh, whose vehicle along with timber was “forcibly taken away” from him by the bank in July 2008.
President of the commission Justice Paramjeet Singh Dhaliwal (retd) and member Rajinder Kumar Goyal ordered the bank to refund the amount with 9 per cent interest from the date of taking the possession of his vehicle till the date of actual payment. The bank has also been ordered to pay Rs 40,000 as the cost of litigation to him.
Simarjit alleged that he purchased Ashok Leyland ‘4028 Tusker Turbo’ in July 2006 from a Ludhiana dealer. He defaulted in payment of three instalments in 2008. However, after receipt of a notice in March, he paid the required amount. In July when his truck was ferrying timber from Srinagar to Gandhidham (Gujarat), it was stopped by the bank representatives within the district limits and they took his truck and timber. The complainant went to the dealers several times, but he was not given the possession of his vehicle. The bank claimed that there were many questions on facts and law concerning the purchase that could be determined by a competent civil court.
The bank denied taking away the vehicle forcibly. The commission ordered the bank to refund Rs 10.80 lakh as cost of the truck, Rs 20 lakh as cost of the timber loaded on the truck, besides Rs 3,000 per month for the loss of livelihood suffered by the complaint as he could not ply his truck.
8