HYDERABAD: At 79, Sitarama Raju is a relieved man after he fought and won a three-year long consumer dispute. The Hyderabad District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum here on Monday ordered the Kundanbagh branch of Canara Bank to pay him a sum of Rs 2 lakh as compensation and another Rs 2 lakh as punitive damages (intended to reform or deter the defendant from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit), in addition to the Rs 9 lakh which was fraudulently withdrawn from his account using forged signatures in May 2012.
Raju, an agriculturist, had a savings bank account with the Kundanbagh branch of Canara Bank, On 26 May 2012, he received the shock of his life when he noticed that Rs 9 lakh has been withdrawn from his account by some unknown persons. He immediately approached the branch. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that an unknown person has forged Raju’s signature and made requisition for issuance of the cheque book and obtained it. A cheque leaf from the same book was used to withdraw the amount. Despite the amount quoted being huge, the bank officials appears to have failed to verify the same with the customer.
The bank even failed to produce the requisition slip or a letter issued for issuance of the cheque book. Raju had submitted a letter on May 2, 2012 requesting the bank to investigate into the matter and refund the amount which was fraudulently withdrawn from his account. Two days later, he also sought the bank to provide a copy of the cheque leaf used to draw the amount and upon verification, it was found that the signature of the complainant has been clearly forged.
However, the bank authorities refused to issue a copy of the ‘cheque book issue register’ as it is bank’s register. Even when such a huge fraud happened, refusal of bank to issue the necessary copies, made Raju suspicious about the involvement of some bank employee in the fraud. Having no other option, Raju approached the Hyderabad District Consumer Dispute Redressel Forum.
The bank in turn claimed that either the son or the driver or representative of the complainant must have taken the cheque book and bank is no way responsible for the fraud.
During the course of trial, the local forum noted that some staffer from the bank could have been involved in the fraud as the bank followed a very casual approach in dealing with such a huge fraud. They observed that the culprit could have been easily caught following the CCTV footages if it had acted immediately. Instead, the bank has conveniently sent the complaint to police through post and it took them nearly 28 days after the fraudulent transaction to send the complaint. The forum has also sent specimen signatures of Raju to the Forensic Lab and it was confirmed that the signature on the cheque was forged.
The Hyderabad IIIrd District Consumer Forum, comprising president Y.Chandra Sekhara Reddy and members D Mahesh Kumar and C Nirmala, passed an order in favour of Sitarama Raju and directed the opposite party to refund Rs 9 lakh along with interest at 9 pc per annum from May 26, 2012 till the date of realization and pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation. Another Rs 2 lakh has been awarded towards punitive damages, besides Rs 2,000 as cost of the complaint.