SC stays NCDRC public notice order in class action complaint against Tata

The Supreme Court today stayed the order of the National Consumer Disputes Resolution Commission (NCDRC), which had directed the issuance of a public notice in a class action complaint filed by Mahajan Imaging against Tata Communications..The Bench of Justices AM Sapre and UU Lalit passed this order in a civil appeal filed by Tata Communications. Tata has contended that the NCDRC order was not compliant with Section 12 (1) (c), read with Section 13 (6) of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and Order 1, Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC)..Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Tata, along with Ashish Bhan, Mohit Rohatgi and Ketan Gaur of Trilegal, and Advocate Ashish Dholakia..In their complaint before the NCDRC, Mahajan Imaging had sought compensation from Tata for having lost their data. The complainant had entered into a contract with Tata to preserve clinical records of their customers in 2012 but lost access to the data in 2016..After hearing submissions made by both parties, the NCDRC agreed with the complainant that public notice ought to be issued so that other parties who were similarly aggrieved could also be informed of the proceedings..In this regard, it took the view that there was no bar under the CPC that prohibited such public notice from being issued..In particular, the NCDRC concluded that under Order 1, Rule 8 of the CPC (dealing with representative suits), there is no bar on issuing a public notice to stakeholders before granting permission to sue or be sued in a representative capacity..Referring to Section 13 (6) of the CPA, it was noted that the Act calls for the application of Order 1, Rule 8 of the CPC in complaints that are filed in a representative capacity..Therefore, the NCDRC had ordered that public notice of the institution of the complaint be published in the Statesman and Navhind Times newspapers, on a prima facie view that the complainant is a consumer. This order has now been stayed by the Supreme Court.