HC issues notice to consumer affairs dept

Justices D Y Chandrachud and S C Gupte observed that despite directions from the court,the government had taken no steps to fill vacancies in the consumer redressal forums across the state. The court asked the principal secretary to respond to the showcause notice by August 29.

On July 29,the court had asked the government to formulate a scheme for the appointment of non-judicial members of consumer forums. However,the court observed that the government had not taken its orders seriously. It said that it was constrained to take action since no concrete steps had been taken by the state government.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Mumbai Grahak Panchayat stating that out of the 40 consumer district forums across Maharashtra,19 are non-functional due to the vacancies.

The court had directed the government to formulate a scheme after it learnt that many of the non-judicial members appointed in the forums belong to local ruling political parties. It directed that all non-judicial members should be from the civil society and of sound reputation.

The court has directed that the principal secretary remain present in court on August 29.