Shortage of judges, funds slow down the courts
Viju B | TNN

Mumbai: It's an irony of sorts. While the union cabinet committee on
economic affairs has approved a campaign for creating consumer awareness and
granted Rs 70 crore for the drive this year, consumer courts across India
are seeing a massive pendency of cases and huge staff shortages.

National and State Consumer Commissions across the country have a pendency
of 1.08 lakh cases, apart from the 2.2 lakh cases lying with district
forums. At the three district forums in Mumbai alone, nearly 10,000 cases
are pending disposal. To boot, over 250 vacancies exist for members in
addition to 42 posts of presidents, who head district and state forums,
which are yet to be filled.

"While the government is spending crores, nearly 4.3 lakh consumer cases are
pending across the country. Instead of wasting money on advertising
campaigns, the authorities should upgrade infrastructure,'' said activist
Arun Saxena. It was Saxena who ferreted out data on cases under the Right to
Information Act from Delhi-based National Consumer Redressal Commission.

Statistics reveal the plight of consumer courts in Maharashtra. The district
forum at Bandra, which has a backlog of nearly 2,000 cases and is short by
two judges, has to handle the load of the entire suburban region from Bandra
to Dahisar and Mulund to Mankhurd. "The result is a huge pendency of cases,'
' said Rajan Alimchandani, an activist. Similarly, Thane which is yet to get
another District Forum for its rural belt, is struggling to cope with cases
from the hinterland. "Till date, the rural court has not been started.
Villagers have to travel from far off to file complaints,'' said Saxena.

    Maharashtra also has just one State Consumer Redressal Commission near
CST to handle all appeals filed against judgments in the district forum.
Harassed consumers have to travel from farflung regions like Vidarbha and
Marathwada to file cases. "The state needs to upgrade the infrastructure,
otherwise justice for the common man will never be met,'' said Anandji
Joshi, President for Forum for Fairness in Administration.

    The paucity of infrastructure and judges is best exemplified by the fact
that two years ago, the State Commission had put out a notice saying fresh
cases would be adjourned sine die (they would not be taken up) till pending
cases were disposed off.

    The main reasons for the problem is the meagre salary drawn by consumer
judges. Forum members are paid remuneration of Rs 250 per day and the
president Rs 500 per day. "The government has also brought in a clause which
says that if the retired judge is availing a pension, then his renumeration
from consumer court will be deducted from his pension,'' says a consumer
activist.



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