Mapping curbs across states
As Covid cases rise in five states, many regions across the country have reimposed restrictions to curb the spread of the cornavirus disease
NEW DELHI: Concerned over massive vacancies and severe deficiency in the infrastructure across consumer courts in the country, the Supreme Court has asked the central government whether a “legislative impact study” was carried out before a new consumer protection law was notified in July 2020.
An SC bench, headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, directed the government to place the said study before the court to indicate if social, economic and institutional impacts were taken into account prior to replacing the 1986 consumer protection law with the 2019 law.
The bench, which also included justice Hemant Gupta, underlined that the new law widened the meaning of “consumer” allowing them to file a complaint from his place of residence; brought e-commerce platforms within the fold of the law; provided for time-bound redressal; made celebrity-endorsers liable and enhanced the monetary jurisdiction of the consumer courts at all levels.
Under the 2019 law, a district forum can decide a consumer dispute up to ₹1 crore as against ₹20 lakh under the old law. Similarly,
pecuniary jurisdiction of state commission has been enhanced from to ₹1 crore to ₹10 crore, and a national commission can now decide disputes over and above ₹10 crore.
Citing these radical changes, the bench said: “The new act expands the jurisdiction of the consumer forums to many new areas and thus, logically a legislative impact study ought to have been completed, keeping in mind the litigation which will shift in the subjects added to the jurisdiction of the consumer tribunals. There is also a shifting of pecuniary jurisdiction.”
Noting that more than 600 vacancies existed across the consumer courts, the court emphasised that these aspects should have formed a part of the “legislative impact study” to ascertain the volume of cases the consumer courts at different levels will be burdened with not only now but in the reasonable time in the future.
It also directed chief secretaries of all the state governments to send the latest vacancy positions to the national commission for uploading it on the website and also notify the new rules for appointments in the consumer courts, besides filing their reports on the existing infrastructure.
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested a 35-yearold man for allegedly killing a five-year-old girl and severely injuring a seven-year-old after a failed attempt to rape the two cousins.
“We have arrested one Anil alia Chameli Kanjad regarding the attacks on two minor cousins. The accused confessed that he lured the girls into the fields with a packet of biscuits to rape them. He attacked the girls with an iron rod when they began to cry,” Shahjahanpur superintendent of police said.
The body of the five-year-old girl was found in the fields on Monday and the seven-year-old, who sustained several injuries, was found 100 metres away from the body. The condition of the seven-year-old is stated to be critical.
An FIR under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) has been filed.