Consumer forum officials will continue in office until new recruitments: Delhi govt to High Court

The Delhi government told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the tenures of the presidents, presiding officers and members of the State and District Consumer Commissions will be extended till new appointments are made to the posts. .A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela recorded the statement of the counsel to that effect. The counsel had first asked the High Court to pass the order but the Bench rejected the request. It said that the Supreme Court has passed an order mandating that the existing officials of the consumer forums must continue to serve in their posts till the fresh recruitments are made, and the government cannot shrug off its responsibility. "We are not going to give any directions. It’s not our job. It’s your job, and you're failing to do it. The Supreme Court has told you something, and you do it. We will take a statement that you are going to implement the judgement in letter and spirit," the Bench said. It added, "We are not going to have any headless institution in this state, at least. Not in Delhi."It then gave time to the counsel to obtain instructions from the government. After getting instructions, the government lawyer said that the judgment of the top court will be followed..The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by former Delhi assembly legislator Sardar RP Singh. He told the Bench that as many as 19 officials serving as presidents and members of the State and District Consumer Commissions are set to retire in the coming days, which will bring the work of these institutions to a standstill. The President of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal is set to retire on May 29, the Court was told. "She has been given a relieving order. The forums cannot function without a President. We have 7,000 cases pending," it was argued. Meanwhile, the plea stressed that in a recent judgement, the Supreme Court had said that till the time new officials are appointed to these commissions under the new rules, the officers serving at the moment should be allowed to continue in their posts even after retirement. “That in the event the aforesaid directions [to extend the tenure of officers] are not passed, the same will render the State Commission as well as the District Commissions vacant and working of the Consumer Fora functioning in Delhi shall come to a complete standstill and will become defunct,” the plea stated. The petitioner further said that he had submitted a representation before the Delhi government but is yet to hear from them. “That the Petitioner has made representation dated 23.05.2025 with the Respondents herein in this regard because Petitioner is in the hope for the extension of Presidents, Presiding Officers and Members in the Delhi State as well District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission. It is submitted that no reply to the representation have been received as on date of filing of this Petition,” he said. The court finally disposed of the PIL. .Senior Advocates Amarjit Singh Chandhiok and Abhijat along with advocates Dr Amit George, Aman Singh Bakhshi, Divjot Singh Bhatia, Shreesh Chadha and Arushi Singh appeared for the petitioner.