Chapter: 7 Enforcement Of Orders Passed By Consumer Fora

Enforcement Of Orders Passed By Consumer Fora
Objectives
The objective of this chapter is to apprise the reader of the mechanism and machinery for enforcement of the orders passed by Consumer Fora. A 'law looses its significance unless there is an effective remedy. An effective remedy involves effective machinery for enforcement of the orders passed by a court or tribunal.

Introduction
Status prior to 2002 amendment:

Consumer Fora are empowered u.s. 25 of the Act to enforce every order made by them, as if it were a decree or order made by a court in a Civil suit. In case of inability to enforce such an order it is lawful for Consumer Fora to send such orders to the Civil Court of competent jurisdiction for enforcement.

In case an order has been passed against a Company, jurisdiction of the court enforcing the order has to be ascertained based on location of the registered office of the company. In case of an individual, voluntary residence or location of business activity or place of work or employment of the person is to be taken into account while sending an order passed by the District Forum, State Commission or National Commission for execution by a court.

On the face of it, it appears section 25 of the Act deals with execution of an order and section 27 deals with penal proceedings where a trader or a person against whom a complainant insists to comply with the order fails to comply with order. This section provides for imprisonment for a period ranging between one month to three years and a penalty in the range of Rs. 2000/- to Rs. 10,000/-.

Though the above mentioned penal provision appears under the heading 'PENALTY', the wording of the section very clearly indicates that this section can be invoked immediately upon failure of the opponent/ respondent who can be a medical professional or any other person held to be negligent in proving the service undertaken by him, a trader (even a complainant) to comply with the order. Therefore a person in whose favour an order has been passed, is entitled to invoke the penal provision in the event his opponent fails to comply with the order in addition to execution proceedings specified u.s. 25 of the Act.

While execution proceedings u.s. 25 are Civil Proceedings, proceedings u.s. 27 are Quasi Criminal in nature. Considering the fact that the person failing to comply with the order can be imprisoned for a minimum period of one month which may extend to three years, an order passed under the Consumer Protection Act has the effectiveness of orders passed by Criminal Courts.