Expressing his displeasure over pending cases, particularly those related with medical issues, state Consumer Affairs minister, Biplab Mitra, has given instructions for disposal of all cases within a year’s time.
Mitra recently chaired a meeting with district commissions in presence of judges of circuit court and state court, Roshni Sen, principal secretary of his department, and other senior officials to take stock of the pending cases and take measures for their speedy disposal.
“The date for the first hearing after filing of the case will be within a gap of one month and cases should be disposed within one year. People should get delivery of judgement within a fixed time frame and inordinate delay in disposal of cases will be strictly dealt with,” Mitra reiterated. Presently, 926 medical cases are pending with the various commissions and some of these cases were filed 15 years back. About 446 cases were filed before 2019. Highest pending cases are in Burdwan, Kolkata Unit III and Murshidabad.
The minister has set a target of reducing these pending cases by 50 per cent in the next three months, before the next meeting scheduled in December. Mitra also proposed arranging special hearings even on holidays to reduce the load. Five district commissions have pronounced less than 10 judgements in the last three months while three have pronounced 10 to 20 judgements in three months. “There are Commissions that have held no hearings on certain days,” Mitra said.
The minister asked his special secretary to conduct a monthly review meet with the Commissions and closely monitor the progress and report. The Registrar of the State Commission was asked to sit in alternative weeks with all the registrars of District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission through video conference and review.
Some district judges pointed out infrastructural issues behind the delay. The minister made it clear that such issues will be immediately brought to the knowledge of the department and the latter will be committed to augment the infrastructure.