Consumer forum verdict gives relief to lawyers

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, December 18

In a major relief to nearly 200 advocates, who have occupied chambers in the newly constructed Judicial Complex, the Gurdaspur District Consumer Forum has directed the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to charge them tariff at “domestic rates” and not ‘non-residential’ rates as is being currently done.

The judgment has also come as a relief for lawyers who have been allocated chambers in new judicial complexes across Punjab.

Moreover, the billing process was also faulty with many advocates receiving bills for no electricity used. Advocate Gurmukh Nihal Singh Gossal was handed over a bill of Rs 1,090 for consuming zero units of electricity. Irked by the anomalies, Baltej Singh, former president of the Gurdaspur District Bar Association (GDBA), approached the District Consumer Forum against the power board. Baltej had received a bill of Rs 860 for just four units of electricity consumed by him.

In the judgment, delivered by a three-member Bench, the forum relied on a Rajasthan High Court case and concluded that “a practising advocate or a lawyer by his legal profession can not be termed as running a commercial activity and for that reason, his office cannot be treated as a commercial establishment.”