TMI Blog2013 (7) TMI 988X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der the Act. The government servant does not fall under the definition of a consumer as defined under Section 2(1)(d)(ii) of the Act. Such government servant is entitled to claim his retiral benefits strictly in accordance with his service conditions and regulations or statutory rules framed for that purpose. The appropriate forum, for redressal of any his grievance, may be the State Administrative Tribunal, if any, or Civil Court but certainly not a Forum under the Act. Therefore, Shri Narendra Hooda, learned Senior AAG, Haryana has made a statement that All the dues for which the appellant had been entitled to had already been paid and the penal rent has also been dispensed with and the State is not going to charge any penal rent. If the State has already charged the penal rent, it will be refunded to the appellant within a period of two months. The Appeal stands disposed of. - CIVIL APPEAL NO. 5476 OF 2013 (Arising out of S.L.P.(C) No. 11381 of 2012) - - - Dated:- 11-7-2013 - CHAUHAN, B.S (DR) AND BOBDE, SHARAD ARVIND , JJ. O R D E R 1. Leave granted. 2. This appeal has been preferred against the judgment and order dated 26.11.2009 passed by the National ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... also been dismissed vide order dated 26.11.2009. Hence, this appeal. 4. Shri Narendra Hooda, learned Senior AAG, Haryana, has raised preliminary issue of the jurisdiction submitting that the service matter of a government servant cannot be dealt with by any of the Forum in any hierarchy under the Act. Therefore, the matter should not be considered on merit at all. More so, all the outstanding dues of the appellant had been paid, and none of the issues survive any more. 5. Shri Prateesh Kapur, learned Amicus Curiae, has raised a large number of grievances, inter-alia, that till today the appellant has not been paid all his retiral benefits as some of his outstanding dues have been withheld by the authorities, thus, he is entitled to recover the same with interest; whether the Forum was competent to entertain the complaint ought to have been decided by the District Forum first as a preliminary issue. It is difficult for a litigant to go back to any other appropriate Forum after such a long time. In the instant case, the appellant approached the District Forum in 1995, the matter could not be finalised till date, and at such a belated stage, the appellant if asked to approac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sdiction . Thus, for assumption of jurisdiction by a court or a tribunal, existence of jurisdictional fact is a condition precedent. But once such jurisdictional fact is found to exist, the court or tribunal has power to decide on the adjudicatory facts or facts in issue. (Vide: Setrucharlu Ramabhadra Raju Bahadur v. Maharaja of Jeypore, AIR 1919 PC 150; State of Gujarat v. Rajesh Kumar Chimanlal Barot Anr., AIR 1996 SC 2664; Harshad Chiman Lal Modi v. D.L.F. Universal Ltd. Anr., AIR 2005 SC 4446; and Carona Ltd. v. M/s. Parvathy Swaminathan Sons, AIR 2008 SC 187). 10. The Act was enacted to provide for the better protection of interest of consumers, such as the right to be protected against marketing of goods which are hazardous to life and property; the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods, to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices; and right to seek redressal against an unscrupulous exploitation of consumers, and further to provide right to consumer education etc. as is evident from the statement of objects and reasons of the Act. 11. Section 2 of the Act which is a definition clause defines the f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... de available to potential users and includes, but not limited to, the provision of facilities in connection with banking, financing, insurance, transport, processing, supply of electrical or other energy, board or lodging or both, [housing construction], entertainment, amusement or the purveying of news or other information, but does not include the rendering of any service free of charge or under a contract of personal service. Section 11 of the Act deals with the jurisdiction of the District Forum as: (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the District Forum shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services and the compensation, if any, claimed [does not exceed rupees twenty lakhs. The aforesaid statutory provisions make it crystal clear that the Act is made to deal with the rights of consumers wherein marketing of goods, or services as defined under the Act have been provided. Therefore, the question does arise as to whether the Forum under the Act can deal with the service matters of government servants. 12. In Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund v. Kartick Das, (1994) 4 SCC 225, this Court examined the issue as to whether a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t remitted the matter to the District Forum to decide the issue of maintainability of the complaint. 14. This Court in Bihar School Examination Board v. Suresh Prasad Sinha, AIR 2010 SC 93, considered the question as to whether a candidate can file a complaint before the District Forum under the Act raising any grievance regarding his examinations conducted by the Bihar School Examinations Board constituted under the Bihar School Examinations Board Act, 1952 and answered it in negative observing as under: The object of the Act is to cover in its net, services offered or rendered for a consideration. Any service rendered for a consideration is presumed to be a commercial activity in its broadest sense (including professional activity or quasi- commercial activity). But the Act does not intend to cover discharge of a statutory function of examining whether a candidate is fit to be declared as having successfully completed a course by passing the examination. The fact that in the course of conduct of the examination, or evaluation of answer scripts, or furnishing of marksheets or certificates, there may be some negligence, omission or deficiency, does not convert the Board into ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
