Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday, November 17, directed the state government to take a decision on establishing District Consumer Commissions in the 23 districts created after the formation of Telangana.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin issued the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Aakula Sampath Kumar of Mancherial district.

Petitioner’s arguments

The petitioner contended that, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, every district must have its own commission, but the government had set up commissions only in the ten districts that existed before the State’s bifurcation.

The court noted that despite its earlier direction on September 24 to file a counter on the matter, the government had not submitted one. It remarked that a policy decision on forming the commissions was expected within four weeks and ordered the authorities to submit an implementation report.

The hearing was adjourned to December 22.

Matter under consideration: Govt

Government special counsel Pottigari Sridhar Reddy said the matter was under consideration and sought four weeks’ time to file a detailed counter. Accepting the request, the bench instructed the government to file the report within the stipulated period and resumed the hearing to a later date.

In a related petition concerning the appointment of the State Consumer Commission’s president, the bench directed the government to issue a notification within a week and posted that case for further hearing on December 4.