Provisions of Consumer Protection Act not applicable to educational institutions

Srinivasan, J.

Broadly stated, two contentions are mainly urged in this batch of writ petitions, one relating to the validity of some of the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (Act No.68 of 1986), (hereinafter called ‘the Act’) and the other relating to the applicability of the Act to imparting of education and matters connected therewith. It is only in W.P. No.6447 of 1993 a prayer is made for declaration that Secs.l0(l)(b) and (c), 13(3), (4) and (5), 14(l)(c), 16(l)(b), 20(1)(b) and 27 and other provisions of the Act as unconstitutional, ultra vires and unenforceable. In all the other writ petitions the prayer is for either issue of writ of prohibition prohibiting the Consumer Forum from dealing with the specified complaints or for issue of a writ of certiorari to call for the records and quash the orders passed by the Consumer Forum on specified complaints.

2. The petitions can be classified into three Groups:

A. Writ Petitions filed by Educational Institutions:

B. Writ Petitions filed by Universities, and C. Writ Petitions filed by the Director of Government Examinations.

Writ Petitions falling in Group ‘A’: W.P.Nos. 6446, 6447, 7577, 9585, 15743, 19409,

19410, 19411, 19412, 19461, 19462, 20608, 20609, 20894, 20895 and 21083 of 1993.

Writ Petitions falling in Group ‘B’ W.P.Nos. 1700 of 1992 and W.P.No. 5262 of 1993.

Writ Petitions falling in Group ‘C: W.P.Nos. 9425 and 20165 of 1993.

A. Writ petitions filed by Educational Institutions:

3. In Group ‘A’ W.P.No.15743 of 1993 is filed by the Loyola Institute of Business Administration while all the other petitions are filed by Dr. Alexander Educational Foundation.

4. The case of Alexander Educational Foundation as set out in the affidavits is shortly as follows:

The Foundation is a Charitable Organisation, registered under the Societies Registration Act for the purpose of running Educational Institutions, particularly in medical and para-medical fields. The Management is carried on by a Board consisting of eminent persons in the field of medicine and medical education and the trustee is himself a Doctor and his entire family consists of medical practitioners, running a highly successful and reputed General Hospital at Tambaram under the name of Philips Hospital. It has completed 25 Years of service to the patients in the area. The Foundation was started with the express intention of setting up medical/para- medical educational institutions in the Union Territory of Pondicherry, where it was found that no adequate or proper educational institutions were available, apart from the nationally renowned institution Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER). The petitioners sought to establish two institutions, one a Polytechnic for grant of Diplomas and another a full fledged institute for the grant of Degrees in the field of Pharmacy, Medical Lab Technology and Nutrition. Consequently, the Pondicherry Community Polytechnic was started in 1985 with the affiliation of the Board Technical Education, New Delhi and recognition of the All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi. The Polytechnic has also been recognised as a community Polytechnic by the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resources Development, entitled to receive grant-in-aid from the Central Government, though the grant has not been received yet on account of non-cooperation and refusal by the Government of Pondicherry to give a No Objection letter for receipt of the grant. The Pant Institute of Technology was started in the year 1987 for giving education leading to grant of Degrees in the three subjects mentioned earlier. The petitioner required affiliation with the Pondicherry University and sought the same for the course of the Bachelor of Pharmacy. After inspections by a Committee appointed by the University, affiliation was granted to the same by the University subject to certain conditions. The Government of Pondicherry passed an order