Proceedings before the Consumer Forum are suits
Supreme Court of India
Ethiopian Airlines vs Ganesh Narain Saboo on 9 August, 2011
Bench: Dalveer Bhandari, Mukundakam Sharma, Anil R. Da
Civil Appeal No. 7037 of 2004
In this decision, the Supreme Court laid down or rather reiterated two important principles.
1. That in fora created by the Consumer Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure are applicable only to a limited extent
2. That proceeding before the Consumer Forum comes within the sweep of term “suit”
The most important paras from this decision are reproduced below…
- It is settled principle of statutory interpretation that specific statutes that come later in time trump prior general statutes. Both the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and the Carriage by Air Act, 1972, which came long afterthe Codeof Civil Procedure, 1908, are more focused and specific statutes and therefore should be held to supersede Section 86 of the Code. This Court in Savita Garg (supra) has clearly laid down that the principle that in fora created by the Consumer Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure are applicable only to a limited extent, therefore, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure have not been made applicable to the proceedings of the National Consumer Forum.
- The controversy involved in this case is no longer res-integra. This Court in Patel Roadways Limited (supra) clearly observed that a proceeding before the Consumer Forum comes within the sweep of term “suit”. Again this Court in Economic Transport Organization (supra) reiterated the principle stated in Patel Roadways Limited (supra). Both these judgments have been specifically approved by the Constitution Bench of this Court in Economic Transport Organization (supra). The view which has been taken in E.I.C.M. Exports (supra) is clearly contrary to the view taken by the Constitution Bench judgment in Economic Transport Organization (supra) and the same cannot be sustained.
75 We are of the considered view that the impugned order passed by the National Commission is untenable so far it held that the proceeding before the Consumer Forum does not come within the sweep of term “suit” because it is contrary to the judgment of the Constitution Bench of this court in Economic Transport Organization (supra). The finding of the National Commission is accordingly set aside to that extent. However, we agree with the findings of the National Commission so far as it has remitted the matter to the State Commission for adjudication. In the facts and circumstance of this case, we direct the State Commission to dispose of the case as expeditiously as possible.
The full decision is available at the following site:
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/33826647/
