KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Scores of complainants Thursday staged a protest outside State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) Karan Nagar office in Srinagar against what they say “callous and irresponsible attitude of a lady member of the Commission”. The protesters alleged that the lady member who heads the Commission in absence of its chairperson “never turns up in time”.
Eyewitnesses told CNS that there was a brawl between the lady member and a practicing lawyer after the later complained to her that she is not punctual.
The complainants who supported the argument of the practicing lawyer Advocate Muzaffar Ahmed said that it has become a routine for the lady member to make people wait for hours on daily basis. They said that the lady member turns up after 12 in the office and leaves an hour early as a result their cases are not listed for hearing
“I have been pleading cases of multiple consumers in the Commission but the lady member (name withheld) is never interested in proceedings and always arrive late in the office as a result public have been suffering. When I drew her attention towards this, she rebuked and scolded me stating that she is not answerable to me or people,” Advocate Muzaffar Ahmed said adding that he has written to Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell and Law Ministry about what has been going on in the Commission.
The protesters said that the SCDRC has been left headless with the appointment of Justice (Retd) Bashir Ahmad Kirmani as member of the Accountability Commission. “It is virtually non-functional. The lady member who is heading the Commission has been taking us for a ride. Consumer courts are to save consumers from exploitation. But the government is denying that right to us,” they said and appealed Government to fill the vacancy without any further delay so that their grievances are redressed at an earliest.
