New Delhi, Oct 26 A consumer court here has held that clinical depression following the death of a complainant’s husband was sufficient ground to condone her 250-day delay in filing a complaint, setting aside an order that had dismissed the case as time-barred.
The appeal was filed by Priya Mehrotra against an order dismissing her complaint against Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd on the ground of limitation.
A bench of the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission headed by its president Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said the woman had provided sufficient cause for the delay as she was undergoing treatment for clinical depression following her husband’s demise.
The commission directed the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (West) to decide the complaint on merits within three months.
In its order dated October 7, the commission said, “On bare perusal of the aforesaid statutory position, it is clear that any Appeal or Application by be admitted if the Appellant or Applicant satisfies the Court that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the Appeal or making the Application within the period of limitation.”
Mehrotra’s husband, Saurabh Mehrotra, had a mediclaim policy covering both of them with an assured sum of Rs 20 lakh. He was hospitalised in August 2021 after suddenly falling ill and died on October 27 that year.
The insurer rejected a claim for reimbursement of Rs 25.73 lakh spent on his treatment, citing a two-year waiting period for the treatment of cirrhosis. The company’s grievance redressal cell also rejected the claim, following which Mehrotra approached the Insurance Ombudsman, whose order dated January 31, 2023, went against her.
She subsequently filed a consumer complaint alleging deficiency in service and sought reimbursement of the medical expenses, along with compensation and litigation costs. The District Commission dismissed it, holding that it had been filed beyond the prescribed two-year limitation period.
Challenging the order, Mehrotra submitted that she had suffered severe psychological distress after her husband’s death and developed clinical depression in June 2024. She said she underwent prolonged medical treatment and counselling and became mentally capable of understanding her legal position only after May 2025.
The State Commission noted that the medical prescription on record supported her claim of undergoing treatment for clinical depression.
Finding sufficient cause for the 250-day delay, the commission said it would be in the interest of justice to condone it and directed that the complaint be decided on merits.
(PTI News)
