S.S. Sandhawalia, President — Should the State Commission established under Section 9(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, be bound by its own previous decisions on pure questions of law? This is the significant larger question arising at the threshold in this appeal.

2. The facts deserve notice in some detail Dr. J.S. Dhatarwal, the proprietor of the respondent Hotel Palki, Hissar had preferred the complaint before the District Forum. The gravamen of the charge therein was that the appellant had issued a bill of electricity consumption for the amount of Rs. 26,415.31 ps. which included a demand of Rs. 19,549.88 ps. allegedly for the theft of electricity. According to the complainant, on making enquiry about this unwarranted demand he was told by the electricity department that the seal of the old meter was found broken and consequently on the presumption of a theft of energy from January to June 1990, the amount had been calculated and imposed as a penalty. It was the case that this was wholly improper, unjustified and uncalled for because according to him the seals of the old metter were never tampered with and indeed the meter readers of the Department had been visiting and re