NCDRC has no jurisdiction to entertain revision petition in execution proceedings, Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a Revision Petition against an order passed by a State Consumer Commission in execution proceedings is not maintainable before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)..“A Revision Petition was not maintainable against the order passed by the State Commission in an appeal arising out of execution proceedings”.The judgment was rendered by a Bench of Justices UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra which upheld the decision of the Delhi High Court and affirmed its findings on the Revisional jurisdiction of the NCDRC..The case pertains to a consumer dispute between the complainant, Respondent before Supreme Court, and the appellant, Karnataka Housing Board. The consumer dispute was adjudicated finally when, after going through all the stages starting from District forum, the Supreme Court passed an order to settle the dispute..Subsequently, the second round of litigation took place which was essentially execution proceedings. The State Commission had passed an order in the execution proceedings against which a revision petition was preferred by the Appellant before the NCDRC. The NCDRC allowed this revision petition..This led to the Complainant approaching the Delhi High Court which set aside the order of the NCDRC. The Karnataka Housing Board challenged this decision before the Supreme Court..The question before the Supreme Court was whether a Revision Petition is maintainable before the NCDRC u/S. 21(b) of the 1986 Act against an Order passed by the State Commission in an appeal arising out of execution proceedings..The Court at the outset observed that the right to file a Revision Petition, like an appeal, is a right conferred by statute. In the absence of statutory conferment, there is no inherent right to file a revision..It then analysed Section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act. As per Section 21(b) of the Act, exercise of revisional jurisdiction u/S. 21(b) by the NCDRC is limited to a consumer dispute which has been filed before the State Commission..The Supreme Court noted the scope of Section 21(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 which deals with Revisional Jurisdiction. The Revisional jurisdiction conferred by the Act is limited to a consumer dispute filed before the State Commission. The jurisdiction u/S. 21(b) of the 1986 Act can be exercised by the NCDRC only in case of a “consumer dispute” filed before the State Commission, the Court said..“The National Commission in exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction u/S. 21(b) is concerned about the correctness or otherwise of the orders passed by the State Commission in a “consumer dispute”. “.The Revisional jurisdiction is only with respect to a pending or disposed consumer dispute, the Court noted further adding that the consumer dispute, in this case, was already adjudicated by the Supreme Court itself. The matter in question now pertained to execution proceedings. An order passed for such enforcement of the order would not fall within the purview of a consumer dispute, the Court held..“The nature of execution proceedings is materially different from the nature of proceedings for adjudication of a consumer complaint. Execution proceedings are independent proceedings. Orders passed for enforcement of the final order in the Consumer dispute, cannot be construed to be orders passed in the ‘consumer dispute’.”.The Court further cited the decisions of the Full Benches of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Patna High Court which had held that execution proceedings cannot be held to be a continuation of the original suit. The Court reaffirmed that the merits of a claim cannot be considered during execution proceedings; they are independent proceedings for the enforcement of a decree..Thus, finding that the NCDRC had committed a jurisdictional error in this case, the Court upheld the decision of the High Court which had set aside the order of NCDRC..[Read Judgment].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.

NCDRC has no jurisdiction to entertain revision petition in execution proceedings, Supreme Court

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