Man wins ₹30,000 after suing furniture firm for ‘ruining’ wife's sarees: Report

A Bengaluru man sued a furniture firm after fungus damaged his wife's silk sarees, kept in a newly purchased wardrobe.

Published on: Jul 18, 2023, 16:41:58 IST

By Yamini C S

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A Bengaluru resident won ₹30,000 after suing a furniture company over a fungus-infested wardrobe that “ruined” his wife's favourite silk sarees. Mahesh K, a resident of Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar, sued Pepperfry after seeing that his wife's sarees were damaged due to fungal growth in their newly purchased wardrobe, The Times of India reported.

The court ruled in the complainant's favour at the end and directed the furniture company to refund ₹18,000 to him. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

He reportedly bought some furniture from the online store back in June last year, including a wooden wardrobe that cost ₹18,000. To his dismay, he soon discovered that infestation inside the wardrobe had damaged his wife's sarees. Unsatisfied with the grievance and redressal process after having contacted Pepperfry's customer care, Mahesh decided to take the company to consumer court.

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He claimed a compensation of ₹5 lakh apart from a full refund in his legal notice. Mahesh represented himself in the Bangalore Urban 2nd additional district consumer disputes redressal commission in the city's Shantinagar area, and provided pictures of the wardrobe, where fungus had infested the wood.

The furniture company's attorney meanwhile argued that the allegation of selling damaged furniture was false, and that the reason for fungal infestation was bad weather. An year later, on June 6, 2023, the court observed that Mahesh had not produced any pictures of his wife's damaged sarees, but also took the furniture firm to task for blaming Bengaluru's weather after selling a bad product.

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It ruled in the complainant's favour at the end and directed the firm to refund ₹18,000 to him. It also ordered the company to pay an additional ₹10,000 for the trouble the couple went through and ₹2,000 towards litigation charges incurred by the man.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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