The Judges Concluded

Despite the above-mentioned arguments, Justice VB Gupta agreed with the findings of the State Commission and gave the following reasons for the same:

1. “We reiterate that when two-three authorities are available to any person to file judicial proceeding for the redressal of his grievance, propriety demands that he has to choose one and pursue the remedy to the hilt or to the logical end, but he cannot be permitted to file civil suit in the Civil Court and for the same relief file consumer complaint in the District Consumer Forum. This is nothing but a blatant misuse of provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and the Code of Civil Procedure.”

2. “The Consumer Forum is in addition to the jurisdiction of other authorities, particularly Civil Court functioning in the State of Maharashtra or for that matter all over India. But once party chooses to approach Civil Court for the same relief, he cannot be permitted to file consumer complaint pending the civil suit he has already filed for the same reliefs. Complainants Kantilal Shah and Damayanti K Shah having already approached Civil Court in the year 2002 were not permitted in law to file consumer complaints in the year 2003 for the same reliefs,