Mumbai: Quorum Blues Shadow State Consumer Commission

Mumbai: On Friday, a group of complainants and advocates who had come all the way from Pune to the state consumer commission were disheartened to see that the board was discharged without hearing their case despite a long wait, though the case was scheduled for hearing later. Similarly, a week ago, some other consumers had hoped that their case would move forward but did not, as the board was discharged then, too. 

For nearly two weeks, consumers and some advocates, who are not regulars at the state commission, have been returning as the board has been getting discharged due to lack of quorum.

There aren’t many members to complete the quorum

A bench at the consumer commission can function if the quorum of president and member is complete. However, none of the three benches have been functioning since mid-June as the member has been unwell. Due to vacancies, there aren’t many members to complete the quorum.  

An advocate said, “I had come from Pune and so did my clients. When we reached here, we realised that the board was discharged. Our trip was a waste.” He added that since he is not from Mumbai and a regular at consumer commission, he is not aware of the bench not sitting for the past few days. 

The advocate said, “If the case would have come up for hearing, you never know how much time it would have taken. I had, therefore, kept the entire day for this. Now the day and trip both stand wasted, besides the money spent. It would have been better had some intimation come early.”

Consumers and lawyers questioned why the board has not been discharged for a longer period instead on a daily basis as the member is not likely to resume work soon. “That would help prevent all the hassles, which multiply during monsoon,” said another person. 

The commission president, Justice SP Tavade, said, “A member has been unwell so the board was discharged. He was hopeful of resuming in a day or two. However, urgent cases continue to be heard online with the member present. Now it is clear that he is not likely to resume for another fortnight, so instructions are given that the board be discharged for that period. We will decide on physical hearing only towards July 14.”