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Pratibha Pratisthan & Ors. v. Manager, Canara Bank & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 3560 of 2008)Decided 7 Mar 2017
Civil Appeal No. 3560 of 2008
Justice Madan B. Lokur · Justice Prafulla C. Pant

Background

A Trust had filed a consumer complaint against a bank, which the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission rejected on the ground that a Trust is not a "complainant" or "consumer" under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and so cannot maintain such a complaint. The Trust appealed this threshold ruling to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the statutory definitions of "complainant," "consumer," and "person" under the Consumer Protection Act and found that none of them include a Trust. Since a Trust is not a "person" as defined in the Act, it cannot be treated as a "consumer," and therefore cannot be a "complainant" entitled to file a consumer dispute. Having found the complaint itself not maintainable, the Court declined to examine the underlying merits of the dispute with the bank at all, and dismissed the appeals.

Lesson Learnt

A Trust cannot sue or be sued as a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, only individuals, registered associations, companies, or similar legal "persons" as specifically defined in the statute can access consumer forums; a Trust seeking redress for a commercial grievance must use ordinary civil courts instead.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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