Maharashtra Consumer Commission Allows Video Evidence In Alleged Defective Chocolate Case
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, June 22: The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has set aside an order of the Mumbai Suburban Additional District Consumer Commission that had refused to allow a consumer to place additional electronic evidence, including video recordings stored on a pen drive, on record in a complaint involving allegedly defective chocolates.
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Allowing the revision petition, the State Commission, comprising President Justice S.P. Tavade and Member Vijay C. Premchandani, held that the District Commission had erred in rejecting the application.
The Commission observed that the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, is intended to provide effective protection to consumers and that technological limitations in the e-filing system should not prevent a consumer from leading relevant evidence.
The State Commission noted that the Confonet e-filing platform does not provide a facility to upload videos while filing consumer complaints. It further rejected the District Commission’s reasoning that a lack of infrastructure to view electronic evidence was a valid ground to refuse such material.
Consumer Challenges Rejection Of Evidence
The revision petition was filed by Kurla resident Chirag Sunderlal Gupta, who had lodged a consumer complaint against a Kolkata-based Food Creation company.
Gupta alleged that chocolates purchased for his children caused illness after consumption and had subsequently approached food safety authorities and the consumer commission.
The District Consumer Commission had rejected Gupta’s application seeking permission to file additional documents, photographs and a pen drive containing video recordings related to the chocolates.
The forum held that the evidence had not been produced at the time of filing the complaint and observed that the District Commission lacked infrastructure to view electronic evidence.
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Challenging the order, Gupta argued that the videos could not be uploaded during the e-filing process and that the required certificate under Section 63(4) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, was not available earlier.
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