The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a performance audit of consumer commissions across the country, including an assessment of the work done by former judges and judicial officers appointed to these fora, as it questioned whether they had become “rehabilitation centres” for retired people without adequate accountability.
“Have these places become a rehabilitation centre for retired people? That is what is bothering us. You appoint retired district and high court judges and then there is no accountability. We are not willing to accept this. It directed the presidents of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and state consumer commissions to conduct an evaluation of the performance of the commissions under their jurisdiction over the last three years and furnish reports to the court. The court also sought a report from the president of the National Consumer Commission within two weeks detailing the total pendency, composition of the commission, average disposal by its different benches, the estimated time required to clear the backlog and whether its strength needed to be increased. The court also asked senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, to submit a separate report on the functioning and pendency of state consumer commissions, including the oldest pending cases.
There has to be some kind of a performance evaluation,” said the bench.
SC says more benches alone won’t solve consumer case backlog
The court, however, made clear that merely increasing infrastructure or providing additional facilities would not address the problem unless there was corresponding accountability.
