NON-ADVOCATES CAN APPEAR BEFORE CONSUMER FORUMS: SC

The Supreme Court (SC) has held that a non-advocate could appear before the consumer disputes redressal forum if he/she is appearing on an individual case basis without charging a fee and also without any pre-existing relationship with the complainant. A bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Justice Mukundakam Sharma and Justice Anil R Dave in their judgment has said that pre-existing relationship includes relatives, neighbors, business associates or personal friends. The court said this in its detailed suggestion to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for framing rules to facilitate the appearance of representatives who, however, are not legal practitioners before consumer forums.