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Review/Rehearing of issues under Consumer Protection Act

In R.V. Prasannakumaar v. Mantri Castles (P) Ltd., the main issue that arose before the NCDRC was whether any sort of interference was called for in the review petition filed by the petitioner.

The Commission observed that Section 22(2) of the Consumer Protection Act, is limited to the error apparent on the face of the record. The Commission then referred to the Supreme Court judgments of Union of India v. Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores Ltd., and S.Bagirathi Ammal v. Palani Roman Catholic Mission, wherein it was held that the power of review cannot be exercised solely on basis that the parties do not agree with the view of the judgment, as long as the point is already dealt with and answered, parties are not entitled to challenge the impugned judgment in the guise that an alternative view is possible under review jurisdiction. Under the review jurisdiction, rehearing of issues is not allowed but the same issues can be decided just by a perusal of the records and if a prima facie error is detected then it can be corrected using the review jurisdiction. In the instant case, the error was apparent only with respect to certain complainants.

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