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TMI Blog2017 (4) TMI 306X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the respective fora in the domain areas referred to in the statutory provisions mentioned above. The model rules shall provide for the payment of salary, allowances and for the conditions of service of the members of the consumer fora commensurate with the nature of adjudicatory duties and the need to attract suitable talent to the adjudicating bodies. These rules shall be finalized upon due consultation with the President of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, within the period stipulated above; (iv) Upon the approval of the model rules by this Court, the State Governments shall proceed to adopt the model rules by framing appropriate rules in the exercise of the rule making powers under Section 30 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986; (v) The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is requested to formulate regulations under Section 30A with the previous approval of the Central Government within a period of three months from today in order to effectuate the power of administrative control vested in the National Commission over the State Commissions under Section 24(B)(1)(iii) and in respect of the administrative control of the State C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... stituted a Committee presided over by Mr. Justice Arijit Pasayat, a former judge of this Court, to examine : (i) the infrastructural requirements of the State Commissions, deficiencies in infrastructure and remedial measures; (ii) the position of vacancies of members at the national, state and district level; (iii) the need for Additional Benches at the national, state and district level; (iv) conditions of eligibility for appointment of non-judicial members; (v) administrative powers which have been or should be conferred on the presiding officers of the state and district fora; (vi) service conditions including pay scales governing the presiding officers and members; (vii) requirements of staff; (viii) creation of a separate cadre of staff at the national, state and district level; and (ix) other relevant issues. The Committee was requested, while examining these issues, to submit its recommendations. The Committee has since the commencement of its work in February, 2016 inquired extensively into the matters referred to it and has made an assessment of the prevailing conditions in the States of Orissa, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... - responsible for timely filling up of the vacancies of the Presidents and Members in the State Commissions and District Fora of the states, have failed to keep the time limit. The Committee has come across instances where the State Governments have taken upto 7/10 months to approve the recommendations of the Selection Committee . The quality of presiding members, especially of non-judicial members at the state and district levels is poor. One of the reasons is that the remuneration which is being paid to non-judicial members of consumer fora varies from state to state and is too meager to attract qualified talent. Most of the non-judicial members are not even capable of writing or dictating small orders. At certain places non-judicial members act in unison against the presiding officer, while passing orders contrary to law, damaging the reputation of the adjudicating body. Presidents, as a result, prefer a situation where such non-judicial members absent themselves from work if only so that judicial work can be carried out by the presiding judge impartially and objectively. Many non-judicial members do not maintain punctuality and others attend to work sporadically once or twi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rm as President. Such non-Judicial Members manage to get selected and then misuse their position as Members, as they call themselves Judges . The selection of persons as presiding officers and as members of the fora lacks transparency without a fixed criteria for selection. The Committee has, in our view with justification, proposed that a written test should be conducted to assess the knowledge of persons who apply for posts in the district fora. Issues of conflict of interest also arise when persons appointed from a local area are appointed to a district forum in the same area. 5. The position of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has emerged from the interactions of the Committee with the President and members of the Commission. The serious deficiencies of infrastructure are summarized below : (i) Sanctioned strength of personnel is far lower than the actual requirement and is not based on the pendency of cases or on objective norms adopted by statutory organizations; (ii) There are 118 sanctioned posts as against a requirement of 322 while pendency of cases as on 30 September, 2016 is 11,379; (iii) Few personnel work on a regular basi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . The Government of Jammu Kashmir has failed to appoint the President of the State Commission. 8. The Committee has formulated its suggestions to the Central Government in Annexure A and the directions which it has issued to the State Governments in Annexures B to M to the report. 9. The interim report of the Committee provides an unfortunate reflection of the state of affairs in the consumer fora at the district, state and national level. That these bodies which are vested with important functions of a judicial nature continue to work despite the prevalence of such adverse conditions and in the face of the apathy of the Governments both at the national and state level is a matter which requires immediate intervention by this Court. A systemic overhaul of the entire infrastructure is necessary if the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is not to become a dead letter. With the proliferation of goods and services in a rapidly growing economy, Parliament envisaged the enactment to be the corner-stone of a vibrant consumer movement. Reality has been distant from the aspirations of the law. Since the state of affairs which has been revealed before the Court warrants systemic changes, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... elation to the State Commissions and upon the State Commissions in relation to the district fora is an entrustment with a purpose; the object being to oversee the functioning of the forum, which is subject to its administrative control so as to ensure that it is an effective instrument of rendering justice to consumers. The power of administrative control is couched in wide terms. The power would include overseeing the functioning of the State Commissions and the district fora in all administrative matters. This would include the posting of and control over members, appointment of and control over manpower, provision of adequate infrastructure and the streamlining of all administrative matters (except the exercise of the judicial power in deciding complaints, appeals and revisions). The difficulties which have been encountered in the proper functioning of the district fora and the State Commissions can be obviated in a large measure once the true ambit of Section 24B is construed, by vesting full powers of an administrative nature in the National Commission (in relation to the State Commissions) and in the State Commissions (in relation to district fora). In the National Commission ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (2) The salary or honorarium and other allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the members of the State Commission shall be such as may be prescribed by the State Government. [Provided that the appointment of a member on whole-time basis shall be made by the State Government on the recommendation of the President of the State Commission taking into consideration such factors as may be prescribed including the work load of the State Commission.] Hence, the State Governments are required under sub-section (3) of Section 10 and under sub-section (2) of Section 16 to prescribe the salary or, honorarium, allowances and the other terms and conditions of service of the members of the district fora and of the State Commission. 10. Section 10 provides for composition of the district forum. Clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 10 stipulates the appointment of two members (apart from the President, who is to be or should have been or must be qualified to be a district judge). Section 10(1)(b) is as follows : Composition of the District Forum. - (1) Each District Forum shall consist of ... (b) two other members, one of whom shall be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be no gainsaying the importance of adopting unified standards and objective processes of selection from a national perspective. This would ensure an objective formulation of norms and their uniform application in different states in the country. In the absence of a uniform pattern, the result is a wide variation in standards and a great deal of subjectivity, and bureaucratic and political interference, which has been noticed in the reports submitted by the Committee to this Court. The Committee which has looked at the entire matter in perspective consists of a former judge of this Court, a former judge of the Delhi High Court, and the Secretary to the Union Government in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The findings of the Committee in the interim report are entitled to deference. 12. In these circumstances, we hold that Section 24B vests administrative control over the State Commissions in the President of the National Commission and over the district fora in the Presidents of the State Commissions. The extent of the administrative control shall be in all matters relating to the administrative functioning of the forum concerned including but not l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Commission also has jurisdiction where the amount claimed is in excess of Rupees twenty lakhs (complaints below that amount lie before the district fora) and upto Rupees one crore. Appeals from orders of the State Commission lie to the National Commission. Apart from its appellate jurisdiction the National Commission has the power to entertain complaints where the value of goods or services and compensation sought exceeds Rupees one crore. The Committee has noted that in the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 the pecuniary jurisdiction of the district fora is to be enhanced to Rupees one crore. The proposed expansion of pecuniary limits requires the strengthening of the quality of adjudication in the district fora. Members of the forum must be aware of the responsibility vested in them as adjudicating officers. There is a need to ensure checks and balances. The work which is performed by the consumer fora constituted in the three tier hierarchy provided under law is of a judicial nature. The district forum is vested with powers of a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 while trying a suit in respect of various matters set out in Section 13(4). These provisions apply to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ries to the Governments of Orissa, NCT of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on 14 October, 2016 for rectification of deficiencies in infrastructure and resolution of various aspects. By the order of this Court dated 14 January, 2016 the Committee was permitted to forward its recommendations to each State Government concerned for appropriate steps in a time bound manner. A copy of the recommendations was directed to be submitted to this Court to enable it to issue directions should the recommendations not be implemented by the State Governments. Since the recommendations have been made after a detailed inspection and in the interests of facilitating a proper implementation of the provisions of the Act, we hereby direct each of the state governments concerned to implement the recommendations of the Committee within a period of three months. The Secretary to the Committee is requested to forward a copy of this order to the Chief Secretaries concerned to secure compliance as directed. 18. Hence in terms of the above discussion we issue the following directions : (i) The Union Government s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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