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Delay in providing certified copies of proceedings: Consumer panel dismisses complaint against court registrar by law student
The law student had approached the South Mumbai panel of the commission complaining that he had sought the certified copies of proceedings in a civil suit before the city civil court in 2018 and deposited the fee stamp and the initial deposit.
The student had said that he needed the copies for another case and despite following up, he was not given the copies.
A Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed a complaint filed by a 27-year-old law student against the registrar of the city civil and sessions court in Mumbai over alleged delay in providing certified copies of proceedings in a civil suit, stating that it is merely availing a statutory right and not a hiring of a service.
The law student had approached the South Mumbai panel of the commission complaining that he had sought the certified copies of proceedings in a civil suit before the city civil court in 2018 and deposited the fee stamp and the initial deposit.
The student had said that he needed the copies for another case and despite following up, he was not given the copies. He sought refund of the amount paid, reimbursement of his travels to the court and compensation, claiming that the delay caused him mental agony.
“The Honourable Supreme Court has consistently held that persons dealing with statutory or sovereign bodies in discharge of sovereign functions do not qualify as consumers… applying the above principles, a litigant seeking certified copies is merely availing a statutory right. There is no hiring of service. Thus, the complainant does not fall within the definition of ‘consumer’,” the commission said earlier this month.
The registrar office in their reply said that the copies were sought as a third-party and hence it required judicial consideration, detailing how it was first placed before a judge, orders were passed, and the procedure to prepare the copies took a few days, following which the complainant was intimated.
The registrar said that the complainant had paid only Rs 200, leaving a deficit of Rs 474, he was required to pay, which was an issue on his part.
The registrar also submitted that the complaint cannot be maintained as it not a commercial service that the office provides.
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