Kochi : Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has held that a trust is not a “person” under Consumer Protection Act and hence the trust cannot be a complainant under the Act.
A bench comprising Justice B Sudheendra Kumar (president), Ajith Kumar D (judicial member) and K R Radhakrishnan (member) clarified in the order dated Sept 16 that even if a precedent laid down by the apex court relating to the matter has been referred to a larger bench, the established law continues to govern until overridden or modified.
Manager, Canara Bank, which held that a trust does not fall within the definition of a “person” under Consumer Protection Act. The case arose from a consumer complaint instituted before District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC), Ernakulam, by Cochin Thirumala Devaswom Committee against the opposite party, Anand G. Kamath (M/s Lalit Boiler Works). P Rahul appeared for the opposite party. The opposite party filed an interlocutory application challenging the maintainability of the complaint on the ground that the complainant was a trust. The complainant acknowledged its trust status but maintained that the complaint remained maintainable. Reversing the decision of the district commission, the state commission relied on Supreme Court ruling in Prathibha Pratisthan v.
The district commission subsequently dismissed the opposite party’s application and upheld the complaint’s maintainability, prompting the revision petition before the state commission.