I went to the consumer forum today, expecting nothing more than the last rites for my case, considering the notice I received. But when I was called up, the president of the forum listed the case for arguments (i.e. to be handled right at the end). I mentioned the notice, but they said that since the bench had changed, the matter would have to be heard again. (The president was the one who was present when I first appeared, and not the one who admitted my arguments. The other two members were the same.)
When I was finally called up again, the Exide guy appeared once again to say that their lawyer was unable to appear, and asked for another month. I protested that the said lawyer had not appeared for four months, but they scheduled oral arguments for a month later. No problem, it gives me some time to prepare.
As I was leaving, the Exide guy ran after me and asked for my phone number. “Why?”, I asked. “Our lawyer asked me to get it. He wants to discuss a settlement.”
Oh, does he indeed?
At my last appearance before the district consumer forum, my oral arguments were admitted and I was told to expect a judgement by registered post (I called up a few days later to find out how long it might take—a month or more).
Yesterday, I received the following:
With reference to your complaint, dated … you are hereby informed/directed as under:
i) That the complaint is not maintainable before this Forum.
ii) To appear before this Forum on 27/1/12 11.00 a.m. to complete the formalities / to reply to some querries [sic].
iii) Your complaint has been forwarded to Distt. Forum 12/12/11 for further necessary action.
I don't understand how (ii) and (iii) can go hand-in-hand, or what further action may be necessary, but the "not maintainable" part is clear enough.
Perhaps I will be told the rationale on the 27th.
My date for oral arguments in the case against Exide was the 10th of November (yesterday), which was a national holiday. I called the consumer forum to find the revised date, and they asked me to appear today.
Exide was represented by the same chap, with the same story: their lawyer was ill and could not attend. I had expected them to try to file written arguments, but they didn't have any. Fortunately, the two judges present were not inclined to postpone matters further. They asked me to state my case, which I did; and they put it up for judgement.
Now I have to wait for the judgement to reach me by post.
Today's hearing at the district consumer forum in my complaint against Exide was for oral arguments. Unfortunately, only one judge out of three showed up, and no quorum was possible while hearing arguments, so they decided to adjourn all arguments to early November.
(Exide didn't show up to today's hearing, at least not by the time I left. So they don't know the date of the next hearing.)
Exide and I were to file written arguments in today's hearing. I filed mine (which was all of two pages long), but Exide sent someone to say that their lawyer was ill and to ask for an extension. This request was rejected without fuss, and the next hearing was set for oral arguments (after which only the judgement remains).
It wouldn't surprise me if Exide tried to file arguments at the next hearing (just as they filed their evidence late), but if so, I will object to their tardiness and repeated failure to comply with court procedure.
I wrote about my Consumer Court hearing on 2011-04-18, at which I filed my response to Exide. The next hearing was on 2011-05-19, but I forgot to mention it here. Exide was supposed to file their evidence, but they did not do so, and thus lost their opportunity to do so. The next hearing was set for today, for "arguments".
I asked a lawyer friend, who said it probably meant oral arguments; so I prepared accordingly. But, after sitting through forty-odd cases, I was asked to submit written arguments. But someone from Exide (the affable but largely clueless chap who has appeared before) was there, trying to file the evidence they failed to at the last hearing. I was asked if I had any objections, and said no. The evidence was duly accepted. Not surprisingly, it's just a rehash of their earlier response, and says nothing new.
Now I have a month to prepare a written argument.
At my last hearing, where I filed my evidence and collected Exide's response, I was asked to file a response on the 2nd of March. As it happened, that was a holiday, and the court was closed. I called up the office the next morning, and was eventually told to appear on 18th April instead.
I showed up today, and found myself #1 on the cause list. When I was called up, a lawyer from Exide (not the guy who wrote the response, but someone on his behalf) appeared as well. I filed my response and gave him a copy. The next hearing is a month later. Exide will file their evidence and give me a copy.
I wonder how many more two-minute appearances are in store.
I was #20 in a very long cause list at the District Consumer Forum this morning. In my previous appearance, I was asked to file evidence ex parte because no opposing parties appeared in court despite repeated announcements.
It took me a while to understand how to file evidence. I asked in the office at the Consumer Forum, but was told only to go to Karkardooma District Court, where "someone would help me". I went and stopped the first lawyer I saw (black coat, white shirt), and he was kind enough to look over my complaint and tell me exactly what I needed to do: compose an affidavit that restates my complaint as a deposition, and have it attested by an Oath Commissioner (and not just a Notary Public).
I found several Oath Commissioners sitting in a hallway, and one of them pointed me to a "computer guy" who would print out my affidavit for him to attest. I had my complaint on a USB stick, and it took only half an hour or so (after the many lawyers ahead of me had finished their work) to cut-and-paste the details of my complaint into a previous filing. I paid INR100 to the computer guy (INR15/page for not-quite-7 pages), and INR10 to the Oath Commissioner.
I then prepared three complete sets of the affidavit with all the evidence (which were "annexures" in the original complaint, but turned into "exhibits" at this stage).
When I was called to appear today, someone from Exide was present. As I had suspected might happen, it turns out that Exide's counsel did appear in court the last time, after I had already left. They filed a response to my complaint, of which I received a copy only today.
The response begins:
The instant Complaint is a gross abuse of the process of law and has been filed by the alleged Complainant with the sole purpose of harassing and pressurizing the Answering Respondent to submit to its unreasonable and mischievous demands. The instant Complaint is based on false, frivolous and baseless facts solely to suit the illegal designs of the alleged Complainant.
It continues on for a long time in the same vein, alleging repeatedly that I have "unclean hands", and making "vehement" and "categorical" denials of everything in my complaint (including a couple of facts of record).
I have been asked to file a rejoinder at the beginning of March. I shall think about how to proceed.
Today we attended a demonstration at Jantar Mantar to protest against the conviction of Dr. Binayak Sen by the Raipur Sessions court on trumped-up charges of sedition. Despite a complete lack of evidence and clear signs of police misconduct in his arrest, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict brings into sharp focus the sorry state of the government in Chhatisgarh.
One of the signs at the protest: "Kangaroo court in a Banana republic"
Today was my fourth appearance before the District Consumer Forum. I expected Exide to respond to my complaint, since they sent someone to collect a copy a month ago, but they weren't there. The judge (the lady who had initially accepted my filing) said she would hear my evidence ex parte at the next hearing in early January. If it's compelling enough, I guess a default judgement will be issued in my favour, and Exide will proceed to ignore that as well.
I usually read a book while waiting for my case to be called, but watching the proceedings can be quite entertaining. Some lawyers argue at length for the reduction of symbolic fines, with no success. Others come prepared to rant and rave about injustice to their clients, but stutter and stumble when questioned about the facts of the case. One case was attended only by two people from the same opposing party. Every once in a while, people are reprimanded for talking in the courtroom.
And while the case drags on, the UPS batteries are now completely dead, and we have been forced to order three (slightly cheaper) 42AH batteries to replace them.