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Journalism of Courage
JAMMU, NOV 19: Justice delayed is justice denied. This adage is turning out to be true for the 357 complainants awaiting implementation of a six-year-old order by a Jammu court, directing a Calcutta-based finance company to refund more than Rs 40 lakh due to the decree holders.
Hundreds of families in Jammu who invested in several schemes announced by the Jan Priya Finance and Industrial Development Company in 1998 are now running from pillar-to-post to get their money back.
The investors, mostly from rural areas, were wooed to become subscribers on the assurance of an usually high rate of interest. Forget the interest promised, they are yet to get their deposits back.
In 1994, the Divisional Consumer Forum in Jammu decided the cases in favour of the complainants and directed the company to refund the dues along with 18 per cent interest from the date of maturity. Despite the Forum’s arrest order, the firm’s Managing Director Tara Prakash Bhattacharjee, roams free.When the company did not comply with the order to pay the complainants, the Consumer Court of Jammu passed an order under Section 21 of the Jammu and Kashmir Consumer Protection Act, holding Bhattacharjee guilty of disobeying the Forum’s order. He was sentenced to three-month imprisonment with and wasfined Rs 3,000 for not paying decree holders.
The Forum issued arrest warrants and directed DCP, Park Street, Calcutta — where the company’s office is situated — to arrest Bhattacharjee and produce him. But despite reminders to the District Judge concerned and the West Bengal police, Bhattacharjee is still at large. Sources allege that the West Bengal administration is going slow as Bhattacharjee wields considerable clout among state’s leaders.
Most complainants such as Sudhesh Malhotra, a retired principal, Balbir Singh, Khazan Singh and Karan Singh have lost hope. They doubt if the court’s judgement will ever be implemented. They say they are unable to plead their case before the Supreme Court because of financial constraints. They have appealed to the apex court to turn their case into a public interest litigation.
In September 1998, the Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum directed the company to pay Rs 1 crore, including interest, to 316 complainants within two months. The Forum held the company guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practices.
Advocate Rameshwar Singh Jamwal, counsel for the complainants in the case, said that though the judgements were pronounced ex-parte, the decrees remain only on paper. He charged the company with deliberately evading paying the claimants.
Jamwal said he personally went to Calcutta along with a letter of request in the name of district judge of Alipore for attachment of Bhattacharjee’s property. The district judge forwarded the case to the concerned city judge. “Till date, we have no information of Bhattacharjee’s arrest,” he said.
