The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has held that a manufacturing defect is much more than an ordinary defect curable by replacing the defective part.
Back in 2014, Rajasthan-based Vinay Kumar Mishra purchased a Maruti Suzuki Celerio. After he found “defects” in the brakes of the vehicle, he approached a district consumer commission, which allowed his complaint in July 2019, directing the replacement of the vehicle with a similar model.
After this, Maruti Suzuki challenged the decision before the Rajasthan state consumer commission, which in October 2021 modified the order by substituting the replacement of the vehicle with a direction to pay Mishra Rs 1 lakh as compensation.
This didn’t sit well with Mishra, who decided to approach the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) just months later, seeking a brand-new vehicle for the alleged defect.
On January 12, the NCDRC upheld the State Commission’s judgment, noting that the “findings recorded by the State Commission that there was no manufacturing defect per se in the vehicle seems to be correct”.
The NCDRC ruled that a partial failure in the braking system that seemed to have been “rectified later” on a number of visits did “not justify the replacement of the vehicle” with a new car. It stated that the alleged defects in the braking system were not a “manufacturing defect”.
“There is no evidence of any expert on the issue of manufacturing defect in the vehicle, and the defect, if any, has been rectified and cured, and the vehicle has already run more than 70,000 kms, as of 2024,” the commission said.
“We therefore find that the vehicle which was purchased in the year 2014 does not deserve to be replaced and the order passed by the State Commission therefore does not suffer from any infirmity so as to provide any further relief to the petitioner complainant,” it said.
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The commission has on multiple occasions defined a “manufacturing defect”.
On May 16, 2025, in the case of Kishor N Shah vs M/s Mercedes Benz India Private Limited, the commission held, “The manufacturing defect is much more than an ordinary defect which can be cured by replacing the defective part. Manufacturing defect is a fundamental basic defect which creeps while manufacturing machinery. To prove such a defect, opinion of an Expert is necessary…”
Similarly, on December 3, 2019, in the case of Nuzhat v Dee Dee Motors Pvt Ltd, the NCDRC observed, “Manufacturing defect is a defect which persistently comes up and cannot be rectified even after attempts made by the dealer.”
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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