Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
---|---|
e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | 1986 Consumer Protection Act |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Petition Disposed Off |
Headnote | Consumer Protection Act, 1986:Consumer Forums-Jurisdiction-In cases of service rendered by statutory and public authorities-Held, Act has a wide reach and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has jurisdiction even in cases of service rendered by statutory and public authorities-Such authorities become liable to compensate for misfeasance in public office, i.e. an act which is oppressive or capricious or arbitrary or negligent provided loss or injury is suffered by a citizen.Lucknow Development Authority v. MK. Gupta, [1994) 1 SCC 243, relied on.Statutory/public authorities--Deficiency in service and/or misfeasance in public office-Compensation for loss/injury/harassment/mental agony-Accountability of erring officer-Held, the word 'compensation' is of a very wide connotation-It may constitute actual loss or expected loss and may extend to compensation for physical, mental or even emotional suffering, insult or injury or loss-Commission or the Forum is entitled to award not only value of goods or service but also to compensate a consumer for injustice suffered by him-Commission/Forum must determine that such sufferance is due to malafide or capricious or oppressive act-Where there has been capricious or arbitrary or negligent exercise or non-exercise of power by an officer of the authority, the Commission/Forum has a statutory obligation to award compensation-If the Commission/Forum is satisfied that a complainant is entitled to compensation for loss or injury or for harassment or mental agony or oppression, then after recording a finding it must direct the authority to pay compensation and then also direct recovery from those found responsible for such unpardonable behaviour-Where there is a specific finding of misfeasance in public office compensation for mental agony can be granted- The compensation has to be based on a finding of loss or injury and has to correlate with the amount of loss or injury-The Forum or Commission must determine that there has been deficiency in service and/or misfeasance in public office which has resulted in loss or injury--Alongwith recompensating the loss the Commission Forum may also compensate for harassment/injury both mental and physical-Administrative law-Public authorities-Negligence-Accountability. Lucknow Development Authority v. M.K. Gupta, [1994] 1 SCC 243, relied on. Ghaziabad Development Authority v. Union of India, [2000] 6 SCC 113, referred to. Development authorities-Deficiency in service-Interest granted by Consumer Forums-Nature of-National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission granting 18% interest holding that this would take into consideration the escalation in cost of construction as well-Contention that interest is to be awarded keeping in view the rates of interest payable by financial institutions on deposits with them-Held, in all these cases interest is awarded as and by way of compensation/damages-Whilst so awarding it must be shown that there is relationship between the amount awarded and the default/unjustifiable delay/harassment-It is thus necessary that there be separate awards under each such head . with reasons why such award is justified-The principle that interest must be granted at the current rate of interest is only applicable where the proceedings are for recovery of debt or damages-They apply where a refund of .amount is being claimed and the direction is to refund amount with interest-The principles which govern grant of interest do not apply to grant of compensation. Central Bank of India v. Ravindra, (2002) 1 SCC 367; In Defence of Amit Das v. State of Bihar, [2001] 2 SCC 9 and United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Patricia Jean Mahajan, [2002] 6 SCC 281, cited. Development authority-Allotment of flats/plots-Deficiency in service-Cases before National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission involving varying and different facts--Commission awarding 18% interest uniformly in all cases-Held, Commission has been awarding interest at a flat rate of 18% irrespective of the facts of each case-This is unsustainable-Compensation cannot be uniform-Award of compensation must be under different separate heads and must vary from case to case depending on the facts of each case-Guidelines given how compensation would be awarded in different types of B cases-In all future matters, Commission/Forum must award compensation under various heads if it concludes that there has been deficiency of service or misfeasance in public office.Haryana Urban Development Authority v. Rajnish Chander Sharde JT, (2000) 8 SC 154; Bihar State Housing Board v. Prio Ranjan Roy, [1997] 6 SCC 487 and Prashant Kumar Shahi v. Ghaziabad Development Authority, (2000) 4 sec 120, referred to. Words and Phrases : 'Compensation' - Connotation of. |
Judge | Hon'ble Mr. Justice H.K. Sema Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.N. Variava |
Neutral Citation | 2004 INSC 182 |
Petitioner | Ghaziabad Development Authority |
Respondent | Balbir Singh |
SCR | [2004] 3 S.C.R. 68 |
Judgement Date | 2004-03-17 |
Case Number | 7173 |
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