Consumer entitled to have his car replaced if there is manufacturing defect, not just repair: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

A consumer who finds that the vehicle he purchased has a manufacturing defect is entitled to get the vehicle replaced, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently ruled [Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. vs. Ramesh Chander Sharma and Anr.]..The Court made a distinction between a defect that arose during the use of the car and and a manufacturing defect existing at the time of purchase of the car. A car manufacturer can get away by repairing the defect only if there is a technical defect arising during the use of the vehicle and not where the vehicle had the manufacturing defect right from the start.."Repairs may be called for if the vehicles purchased during the course of its use suffers from a technical defect and not where the vehicle has manufacturing defect," the Court said. .The observation was made by a bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Puneet Gupta while dismissing an appeal filed by Maruti Suzuki India..By way of background, a consumer complaint was filed by one Ramesh Chander Sharma against Maruti and a car dealer, M/S Pathankot Vehicleades Pvt. Limited, Pathankot for allegedly selling a defective Maruti 800 car to a consumer. The consumer complained that the vehicle suffered from a technical snag from the very beginning. The consumer said that he brought this issue to the notice of the dealer early on, but that the dealer delayed resolution of the matter giving one excuse or the other.Ultimately, it was found that the engine of the vehicle had a manufacturing defect. The consumer, therefore, sought the replacement of the defective vehicle.Maruti, however, declined to give a replacement and proposed to repair the defect instead. Therefore, Sharma the approached the consumer forum seeking a replacement or a refund. The district and State consumer courts ruled against Maruti and ordered the car company to either replace the car for the consumer or refund the entire amount of ₹1.94 lakh paid for the vehicle along with interest and costs. This was challenged by Maruti before the High Court which proceeded to uphold the consumer court orders. "Indisputably, the vehicle i.e. Maruti Car 800 CC purchased by respondent No. 1 was suffering from a manufacturing defect from the very beginning and, therefore, as is rightly held by the Forum, it was a case of replacement of the vehicle by a new vehicle and not a case of repair," the High Court held. .The Court also noted that the State consumer forum had dismissed Maruti's appeal since the appeal was filed after a delay and without making a pre-deposit of the amount ordered to be paid by the district forum. In view of this aspect as well, the High Court opined that there was no case made out to interfere with the consumer forum's decision to dismiss Maruti's appeal. "The Forum has, therefore, taken a correct view of the matter and directed the petitioner along with respondent No. 2 to either replace the vehicle by new one or in alternative refund the amount of Rs. 1,94,195/- along with interest @ 9 % per annum. Viewed from any angle, we do not find any merit in this petition and the same is, accordingly, dismissed," the High Court said. .Advocate Aruna Thakur represented Maruti before the High Court. .[Read Order]