A law student from RMLNLU Lucknow has emerged victorious in a consumer forum case against an errant courier company..Chanakya Sharma relentlessly fought through undue delays and was granted relief more than a year after the case was filed..Chanakya, earlier a student of Institute of Law, Nirma University, had to submit his Sociology paper from Jaipur, where he was interning. For this purpose, he had employed the services of Overnite Express, which guaranteed delivery within 48 hours. However, on enquiry, the paper did not reach the university in time and was delivered five days later. As a result of this, Chanakya lost 15 marks..Subsequently, he sent the company a legal notice demanding Rs. 5,000 in compensation. When the company failed to respond, he saw no other alternative but to file a complaint at the District Consumer Forum in Ahmedabad in May last year..Appearing in person, he managed to argue and convince the judge that there were merits in the complaint and the case was listed for hearing. However, procedural delays meant that the Forum would only pass an order in his favour on June 30 of this year..Chanakya’s story speaks volumes about a system that prides itself on delivering speedy justice..Speaking to Bar & Bench, he said,.“…while the prescribed time for disposal of consumer matters is 3 months, it took me a more than a year to fight the case myself in order to get justice..For the first two hearings, the company did not appear, even though they were required to respond to the notice within a month. So, I filed an ex-parte application, which the court allowed. Immediately after I was given a date to argue the matter ex-parte, they appeared before the judge in person and asked for one month to appoint a counsel..They kept trying to delay proceedings, hoping that I would drop the case. They even tried to come to a settlement, offering free courier services in the future and Rs. 6000. I told them that I wasn’t interested in money and that it was a matter of my rights being violated.”.And the delays didn’t end there. In March, Chanakya came to know that the judge had retired and that the matter was shifted from Ahmedabad City forum to Ahmedabad Rural. This meant that the case would be posted for arguments only in June..When the matter came before the new judge though, it was quickly disposed of. An order was passed granting him relief in the form of Rs. 7,500 as compensation..However, given the company’s track record, Chanakya is unconvinced that the matter is fully resolved. He said,.“As per usual practice, it takes 7-8 days to get a copy of the order. I will have to go to Ahmedabad to personally collect the order, as I don’t want to take any chances. If the company fails to obey the court’s directions, I need the original copy of the order to file an execution application.”.After experiencing first-hand the tribulations faced by litigants as a result of undue delays, Chanakya wants to spread awareness about consumer rights. He is currently working as a research intern at State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Rajasthan.
A law student from RMLNLU Lucknow has emerged victorious in a consumer forum case against an errant courier company..Chanakya Sharma relentlessly fought through undue delays and was granted relief more than a year after the case was filed..Chanakya, earlier a student of Institute of Law, Nirma University, had to submit his Sociology paper from Jaipur, where he was interning. For this purpose, he had employed the services of Overnite Express, which guaranteed delivery within 48 hours. However, on enquiry, the paper did not reach the university in time and was delivered five days later. As a result of this, Chanakya lost 15 marks..Subsequently, he sent the company a legal notice demanding Rs. 5,000 in compensation. When the company failed to respond, he saw no other alternative but to file a complaint at the District Consumer Forum in Ahmedabad in May last year..Appearing in person, he managed to argue and convince the judge that there were merits in the complaint and the case was listed for hearing. However, procedural delays meant that the Forum would only pass an order in his favour on June 30 of this year..Chanakya’s story speaks volumes about a system that prides itself on delivering speedy justice..Speaking to Bar & Bench, he said,.“…while the prescribed time for disposal of consumer matters is 3 months, it took me a more than a year to fight the case myself in order to get justice..For the first two hearings, the company did not appear, even though they were required to respond to the notice within a month. So, I filed an ex-parte application, which the court allowed. Immediately after I was given a date to argue the matter ex-parte, they appeared before the judge in person and asked for one month to appoint a counsel..They kept trying to delay proceedings, hoping that I would drop the case. They even tried to come to a settlement, offering free courier services in the future and Rs. 6000. I told them that I wasn’t interested in money and that it was a matter of my rights being violated.”.And the delays didn’t end there. In March, Chanakya came to know that the judge had retired and that the matter was shifted from Ahmedabad City forum to Ahmedabad Rural. This meant that the case would be posted for arguments only in June..When the matter came before the new judge though, it was quickly disposed of. An order was passed granting him relief in the form of Rs. 7,500 as compensation..However, given the company’s track record, Chanakya is unconvinced that the matter is fully resolved. He said,.“As per usual practice, it takes 7-8 days to get a copy of the order. I will have to go to Ahmedabad to personally collect the order, as I don’t want to take any chances. If the company fails to obey the court’s directions, I need the original copy of the order to file an execution application.”.After experiencing first-hand the tribulations faced by litigants as a result of undue delays, Chanakya wants to spread awareness about consumer rights. He is currently working as a research intern at State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Rajasthan.
