S.S. Sodhi, Ashok Bhan, JJ. - (1.) IN its concern for the consumer, Parliament enacted 'The Consumer Protection Act, 1986' (hereinafter referred to as 'The Act') with its preamble proclaiming it to be "an Act to provide for the better protection of the interests of the consumer and for that purpose, to make provision for the establishment of Consumer Councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers disputes and for matters connected therewith."
(2.) IN pursuance of the provisions of the Act, the Chandigarh Administration, on October 21, 1987, notified the rules framed thereunder known as 'The Chandigarh Consumer Protection Rules, 1987' ('The rules' , hereafter in abbreviation). It was almost a year later, on July 21, 1988, that the State Commission and the District Forum came to be established. Delays in the disposal of cases by the District Forum and the State Commission and other hurdles in fulfilling the legislative intent underlying the enactment of the Act, is what has impelled the filing of this writ petition in public interest, seeking thereby directions for necessary steps to be taken to ensure expeditious redressal of the grievances of the consumer, which include the establishment of a regular District Forum and State Commission instead of part -time, as at present, and for the setting up of another District Forum at Chandigarh.
(3.) A reference to the material on record would show that the picture of the work -load in the District Forum during the period January, 1992 to March, 1993 was as under: - Pending Complaints Complaints Balance complaints instituted disposed of Jan. 92 983 161 27 1117 Feb. 92 1117 100 57 1160 Mar. 92 1160 118 52 1226 Apr. 92 1226 102 113 1215 May 92 1215 94 2 1307 Jun 92 1307 123 20 1410 Jul. 92 1410 113 23 1500 Aug. 92 1500 108 47 1561 Sep. 92 1561 161 52 1670 Oct. 92 1670 85 42 1713 Nov. 92 1713 173 34 1852 Dec. 92 1852 145 61 1936 Jan. 93 1936 161 49 2048 Feb. 93 2048 105 45 2108 Mar. 93 2108 113 50 2171 It will be seen that there has been a steady increase in the pendency of complaints before the District Forum, in as much as, the pendency of 983 complaints in January, 1992 rose to 2171 by March, 1993. This came about, by the number of complaints instituted each month, except in April 1992, invariably being much larger than those disposed of, a tendency which, we are informed, still persists. An ever increasing work -load is thus inevitable.;