The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday decided to appoint Diwakar Bhatta as the chairman of the vacant Consumer Court. The Consumer Court, which was established in Chaitra last year with the aim of providing justice to consumers, was being run by two judges.
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The Consumer Court has got a chairperson after seven months. The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday decided to appoint Diwakar Bhatta as the chairperson of the vacant Consumer Court. The Consumer Court, established in Chaitra last year with the aim of providing justice to consumers, was being run by two judges.
The lack of leadership in the Consumer Court, established with the aim of controlling market prices, preventing consumer fraud and ensuring justice to consumers who have been wronged, affected the decisions of the complaints received by the court. There is a provision that a district judge will be the chairperson of the court and there will be a three-member bench, one each from the Judicial Service and the Financial Service of the Government of Nepal. The chairperson of the court, which started on Bhadra 7, was vacant after District Judge Ram Prasad Sharma was transferred to the Dhading District Court.
According to the provision that the chairperson of the Consumer Court should be a judge of the Kathmandu District Court, the Judicial Council had already recommended his name, but the decision was blocked due to the Council of Ministers not taking a decision.
The Constitution of Nepal itself envisages a separate court for the effective hearing of complaints related to fraud and other compensation against consumers. As per the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2075 BS and the Rules 2076 BS, the Consumer Court was established on the occasion of Consumer Day on Chaitra 20. Currently, there are only Judges Gehendra Regmi and Ananda Raj Pokharel. When he was the chairman, hearings were held every Thursday by assigning a bench.
A total of 34 cases have been registered in the court since its establishment. Of these, 17 cases were registered in the last fiscal year 2081/82 and 17 in the current fiscal year 2082/83. Of the registered cases, 12 are in the health sector, followed by eight in the automobile sector. So far, two cases have been dismissed, four cases have been settled and two cases have been withdrawn, while the remaining cases are in process, according to the court.
Who is Bhatta
He became a judge after becoming a government lawyer. Bhatta was the first to graduate with the first class in the Master of Laws (LLM) degree administered in Nepal from Tribhuvan University. He is the second-ranked judge of the District Court Kathmandu.
