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Judgment
V.K.Jain, Presiding Member
This revision petition is directed against the order of the State Commission dated 18.09.2018 dismissing the appeal preferred by the petitioners against the order of the District Forum dated 30.11.2017 whereby an application preferred by the petitioners before the District Forum filed for taking the written version on record was dismissed.
A Consumer Complaint was preferred by the respondent against the petitioners in which notice was issued by the concerned District Forum on 14.06.2013. It is not known on which date the notice was received by the petitioners, the said date not being available with the learned counsel for the petitioners. However, the petitioners appeared before the District Forum on 18.07.2013 and on that date, the matter was adjourned to 06.09.2013. The written version was not filed even on 06.09.2013 and the matter was adjourned to 06.11.2013. Neither the order of the District Forum dated 18.07.2013 nor the order dated 06.09.2013 has been filed by the petitioners. Therefore, it cannot be known how much time was granted to the petitioners to file the written version, which ought to have been filed within 30 days of receipt of the notice of admission of the complaint, the said time having been statutorily fixed u/s 13 of the Consumer Protection Act. However, the fact remains that the written version was not filed on 18.07.2013, 06.09.2013 or 01.11.2013. The application seeking permission to file the written version was filed by the petitioner only on 25.03.2014. Thus, there was substantial delay in filing the written version though in the absence of date of service of notice upon the petitioners, the exact delay in filing the written version cannot be verified.
Vide its order dated 10.2.2017, passed in Civil Appeal Diary No.2365/2017, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, while referring the question as to whether the time for filing the written version can be extended beyond 45 days from the date of receipt of the notice or not to a larger Bench, directed that it would be open to the concerned fora to accept the written statement filed beyond the stipulated 45 days on an appropriate case and subject to conditions including the payment of cost, and to proceed with the matter.
Considering all the facts and circumstances of the case, including that the written version was annexed to the application which the petitioner had filed before the District Forum on 25.03.2014 and as far as possible, a matter should be decided on merits, in the light of the pleadings and evidence of all the parties, I feel that the delay in filing the written version should be condoned subject to payment of heavy cost by the petitioner, alongwith a direction to the District Forum to decide the Consumer Complaint in a time bound manner.
For the reasons stated hereinabove, the impugned orders are set aside and the written version of the petitioners is taken on record subject to the following conditions:
(i) The petitioners shall pay a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- as cost to the complainants.
(ii) The petitioner shall not seek any adjournment from the District Forum.
The District Forum is directed to decide the Consumer Complaint on merits within six months of the parties appearing before it. No adjournment to the petitioners, on any ground whatsoever, will be granted. The cost imposed upon the petitioners shall be paid within four weeks from today. The parties shall appear before the concerned District Forum, on the date already fixed before it.