ORDER
J.K. Mehra, J. Member
1. This is an appeal which is filed against the decision of the State Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission, Rajasthan. The case of the Complainant is that in
response to issue of convertible debenture of the Respondent, they had applied for
allotment of 2500 convertible debentures of the value of Rs. 2,000/- each. The
Respondent on receipt of the money issued the debentures. The Complainant
exercised its option for redemption of such debentures on their becoming redeemable on
12.6.96. Having failed to obtain the refund with interest they filed the present complaint.
The objection of lack of territorial jurisdiction raised by the Respondent was rightly
rejected. Our query reveals that the company is dealing in securities, shares,
debentures etc. It, therefore, appears that the Appellant/Complainant is in the trading
business of shares, securities, debenture etc. It was infact on the State Commission
accepting this objection by placing reliance on the judgment in the case of Bombay
Dyeing and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Vs. Union bank of India (2000 CTJ 829 (NC)
that the decision was rendered against the Appellant.
Commission has rightly relied on the relevant passage from the above judgement which
is brought as under:-
” The Consumer Protection Act was passed to provide quick justice
without any court fee to the consumers. It was an additional remedy to all
other remedies provided by various other Acts. The Company may come
within the meaning of “Consumer” under the Consumer Protection Act
(Section 2 (1) (d). Service may also include banking (Section 2(1) (0).
But that does not mean all commercial disputes between a Bank and a
large company must be decided by the Consumer Courts. No court fee is
payable in a Consumer Court so that people of modest means can seek
expeditious justice in the consumer court. The entire purpose behind
setting up of the consumer courts was to provide quick, easy and
affordable justice to common people who could not otherwise enforce
their rights before a Court of Law. A large number of complaints have
been filed in Consumer Courts at all levels all over India and the arrears
of the cases pending disposal are mounting every day. One of the
reasons of such mounting arrears is that large commercial organisations
like the complainant, is invoking the jurisdiction of the Consumer Courts
to settle their commercial disputes. There is no reason why the big
companies should abandon the remedy provided by the Civil Court and
seek justice from the Consumer Court by passing the Civil Courts
altogether. This will have the effect of clogging the wheels of justice in
the Consumer Courts and common people are subjected to unreasonable
delay in getting their cases heard.”
2. It was in the light of this that the complaint of the appellant was dismissed. We
see no infirmity in the impugned order which is upheld, the appeal of the appellant is
dismissed.