HC irked by govt's non-action on vacancies in consumer bodies

Irked by the lackadaisical attitude of the Maharashtra government about vacancies in consumer redressal forums, the Bombay High Court today issued a show-cause notice to the principal secretary of consumer affairs department.
The division bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and S C Gupte sought a reply from the secretary by August 29 as to why contempt action should not be initiated against him for failing to comply with the court's orders since December 2012.
"It appears that court orders are not taken seriously by the government. Despite an order passed on the last hearing on July 29 directing the government to formulate a scheme laying down norms and procedure for selection of non-judicial officers in consumer forums and councils, no concrete steps have been taken," Justice Chandrachud said.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by NGO Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, stating that of the 40 consumer district forums across Maharashtra, 19 are non-functional due to the vacancies of members/presidents.
The bench was informed last time that very often the non-judicial members have political affiliation.
"We are distressed to note that members of district consumer councils are from the ruling political parties. This negates the whole purpose of setting up a consumer forum. All non-judicial members are to be from the civil society and those having experience in consumer protection and rights," the court had noted.