Consumer Protection--Arbitration Clause in Flat Purchase Agreement--Cannot Oust Consumer Forum Jurisdiction Once Complaint Admitted Under Section 12 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986
An arbitration clause in a flat purchase agreement cannot be used to throw a consumer out of the consumer forum. Under Section 3 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the consumer forum remedy is an additional remedy. It does not vanish just because the parties signed an agreement with an arbitration clause. More importantly, once a complaint is admitted by the District Forum, the proviso to Section 12(4) of the Act kicks in — it clearly says the complaint cannot be transferred to any other court, tribunal, or authority. A private contract cannot defeat a statutory right that Parliament itself protected.
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