KOLKATA: The West Bengal State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (CDRC) or State level Consumer Court is set to resume full-fledged operation from Monday complying to all Covid-19 restrictions. Last week, the court had experimentally operated for three days before deciding on a full-fledged operation.
“The president of the CDRC, Justice I C Das (retired), in consultation with all the present member judges took the decision to resume function of the courts much to the relief of the litigants and lawyers. The president earlier ordered a thorough sanitization of documents to be handled by the court,” said Prabir Basu, prominent consumer law expert.
Since May 15, the court has remained shut, leaving thousands of litigants and lawyers in a state of uncertainty. The court faced serious problems in resuming function with only 25% employees in attendance. Moreover, there were logistic issues in the pandemic situation.
The commission, which functions under the state consumer affairs department, hardly operated last year due to the lockdown. This year, it started functioning, only to be closed due to the second wave of Covid-19. “But it is better late than never. Each day, one of the three court rooms will function. Next day the other,” said H Brahmachari, president of Consumer Court Bar Association.
The closure had led to a crisis after thousands of litigants, mostly related with real estate projects, were left at the receiving end of this stalemate. The Supreme Court has declared West Bengal Housing Industrial Regulatory Authority (HIRA) Act unconstitutional. Thus, all the real-estate related cases came back to this commission, which can handle cases worth Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 crore, said Basu.
In Bengal, like any other place, the highest number of cases relate to handing over of apartments to buyers, selling of one apartment to multiple buyers, selling apartments that are different from the promised ones. “Now, the majority of these complaints show promises of resolution. Man’s basic right to shelter was being compromised,” said Brahmachari.
Besides realty issues, the court handles a huge number of medico-legal cases. The operation of the court will help victims of medical injustices at the pandemic times, said Basu.
