Maharashtra consumer redressal panel seeks five-day extension from Bombay high court to start physical hearings

The commission said as most of its members are senior citizens, it was yet to make special arrangements for their safety

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) on Monday sought a five-day extension from the Bombay high court (HC) to resume physical hearings, as most of its members were senior citizens and special arrangements for their safety were yet to be put in place.

The Bombay high court posted the hearing to Friday. (HT FILE)

SCDRC’s request was prompted after the HC had directed the commission to start physical hearings from Wednesday. However, the state consumer affairs department informed the court that as there were fears of a second Covid-19 wave, it was of the opinion that the hybrid system of hearing consumer disputes through physical as well as videoconferencing mode should coexist, and sought time to work out the modalities to implement them.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Consumer Courts Advocates Association (CCAA), was informed that while the HC itself and various trial and magistrate courts had started physical hearings, the consumer courts were yet to start functioning after hearings were stopped owing to the lockdown.

In an earlier hearing on December 1, the court had sought a road map from the Maharashtra government and the registrar of the commission on resuming the functioning of consumer courts and had directed immediate reopening from December 9 of such courts that were in non-containment zones.

In its response to the HC court’s directions, the commission, through its registrar, filed an affidavit in which it stated, “Judicial and non-judicial members of the state consumer dispute redressal commission (six) and presidents and members of district commissions (25) are senior citizens ….To start physical hearing before the state commission, its benches and district commissions, we, on December 3, have requested the state government for allocation of funds for making safety arrangements in the premises of commissions. Making safety measures require an additional five -day time from December 9 to start physical hearing of matters before SCDRC and its benches, except those which are in containment zones.”

It also sought an 11-day extension from December 9 for starting physical hearing before district commissions.

The state consumer protection department, in its affidavit filed through the joint secretary, also stated that the process for filling-up vacant posts in the consumer commissions was being initiated and it would take into consideration the concerns raised by the petitioner.

The affidavit stated, “The Maharashtra government would like to introduce e-hearings alongside physical filing, keeping in mind the interest of consumers. There is a talk or perception about the second wave of the pandemic. Vaccination programme is going to take substantial time. Therefore, the state government feels that the hybrid system of both physical hearing and virtual or e-hearing should co-exist for which modalities will be worked out as early as possible.”

After CCAA sought time to respond to the affidavits, the court posted further hearing to Friday, December 11.