Consumer Protection Act |Supreme Court To Examine If Legal Heirs Can Be Held Liable After Death Of Person Found To Be Negligent
The Supreme Court recently appointed Senior Advocate Raghenth Basant as the amicus curiae to address the issue of whether, for the negligence by a person, the estate of such person should be held liable for compensation through legal heirs.
A bench comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Atul S Chandurkar was hearing a special leave petition filed by a consumer, who alleged negligence by the doctor under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. His complaint was allowed by the District Consumer Redressal Forum but was set aside by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. When he approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission(NCDRC), the doctor died. Subsequently, the consumer also died.
The consumer's legal heirs approached the Supreme Court, and the bench stayed the proceedings before the NCDRC. On January 13, when the matter was taken up, the bench addressed the issue of whether, under the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the complaint survives and whether compensation can be provided to the consumer through the legal heirs of the doctor.
Observing that the issue has wide ramifications, the Court decided to appoint an amicus in this case.
"Considering the issue as involved, the case is having wide ramifications, we deem it appropriate to appoint Mr. Raghenth Basant, learned senior counsel and Mr. Varun Kapoor, learned counsel, to assist the Court as Amicus Curiae."
The matter will be heard on February 3.
Case Details: KUMUD LALL v. SURESH CHANDRA ROY (DEAD) THR LRS & ORS.|Special Leave to Appeal (C) Nos. 33646-33647/2018
Appearances: For Petitioner(s) : Ms. Sarvshree, AOR Ms. Somyashree, Adv. For Respondent(s) : Mr. Umesh Sinha, Adv. Mr. Gunnam Venkateswara Rao, AOR Mr. Anil Singh, Adv. Ms. Shefali, Adv. Ms. Himani Chhabra, Adv