To all members and readers, remember that the word PATIENCE is the key to success in legal matters.

Here is how I worked my way forward with that. Read this fully and prepare yourself for such situations.

 

 

In the year 2010, I purchased a two-wheeler from a dealer of a reputed automobile manufacturer.

While I sat with the sales executive, he said the vehicle would definitely give me a mileage of 55 kms per litre as a minimum and that it was designed to give 64 kms per litre.

So, I made the down payment of many thousands and through the dealer, availed of loan from a bank and that was at a rate of interest of 22.9 percent per annum.

 

 

On the second day of purchase, the vehicle gave a mileage of 27 kms per litre.

I immediately reached out to the dealer. He said, it is only till the first service is done and that further to the first service, the vehicle would give the assured mileage.

 

I kept quiet.

 

Then on the fourth day, it gave me a mileage of 33 kms per litre.

This range of 27-33 kms per litre remained a constant and during the first service, I entered the same in the job card.

But even after service nothing changed.

 

 

So during the second service, he changed the carburettor but neither returned the old carburettor to me nor provided me with the warranty card for the new part.

 

I kept quiet. I made a note of this on the job card.

Nothing changed on the mileage front.

During the third service, I yet again highlighted the mileage issue.

Again no progress.

 

 

So, I protested and he said a fourth service would set matters right and created a scene as if he was doing free service and went ahead with the fourth service.

Again, nothing much changed.

 

 

So, I asked him " WHAT IS THE MILEAGE that this vehicle gives ? "

 

He gave an arrogant reply " THE MILEAGE YOU GET IS THE MILEAGE IT GIVES ".

 

I protested such irresponsible and arrogant replies and the dealer said the manufacturer's senior engineer himself is coming down from a place near Delhi and he would personally handle the matter.

 

 

Now this fellow was worse than the others. He said I need to drive at 50 Kms per hour as the speed and went ahead with a 100 ml test. I protested and said we need to test with 1 litre of petrol. 

He agreed and made me drive from Bangalore to the border of Tamilnadu, a two hour journey since the entire stretch of 33 kms, he insisted that I drive at 50 kms per hour speed.

Even a slight increase in the needle swing on the speedometer he would point out.

I knew he was deriving pleasure in irritating me.

But I kept quiet.

 

The vehicle gave a mileage of around 40 kms per litre.

I wrote the same on the job card.

 

 

Since nothing much changed, within the third month of purchase, I told the dealer that I would file a case at the consumer forum.

He said arrogantly " You may do so by all means. We have no objection "

I hired the services of an advocate and formally filed a case at the district consumer forum.

Multiple adjournments and the case pulled on for One year.

 

Both the dealer and the manufacturer hired the best of advocates and their juniors issued many sound clips about vehicles and mileage as if nobody in the world owned two-wheelers other than these two advocates.

I prepared almost all the documentation and did team work with my advocate.

I was the complainant and the dealer and manufacturer were the respondents ( R1 and R2 ).

 

 

They submitted a prayer that they would service the vehicle once more.

The court agreed.

We went there and the junior of the reputed advocate reached there and started his high pitch voice and irrelevant sound bytes. 

My advocate's junior got scared.

 

I pitched in and told the junior of the opposite party to SHUT UP and show his talents in the court and not on the streets.

He took offence and immediately called the senior advocate. I asked him to give me the phone and gave an ear-full to the famous senior and cut the call and immediately asked the junior advocate

 

" HOW MANY RUPEES DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR POCKET NOW ? I AM SURE YOU DO NOT HAVE MORE THAN TEN RUPEES. YOU HAVE JUST STARTED YOUR CAREER AS A JUNIOR AND YOU ARE STILL A BOY AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED. 

 

WITH JUST TEN RUPEES IN YOUR POCKET and having come by bus, without even owning a two-wheeler, YOU ISSUE TOO MUCH OF SOUND. 

 

SO JUST KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT TILL THE SERVICE IS DONE AND AFTER THAT, SHUT UP AND RETURN TO OFFICE. 

 

INCREASE YOUR VOLUME SOMEWHERE ELSE AND NOT WITH US. SHOW YOUR ROWDYISM IN THE COURT IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS AND NOT ON THE STREET.  "

 

He was taken aback by this PSYCHOLOGICAL BOXING that I did, using some dialogues that only they speak among advocates and the way I repaid the advocate in their own trick ( psychological boxing ).

He did not issue a word after that.

 

For two long hours, like a surgery, they went on with the vehicle service, focussing on every single aspect.

We were prepared well enough. We knew the mileage trick is a fraud played upon the public by the manufacturer.

 

To our luck, before service the mileage was close to 40 kms per litre of Petrol and after service the mileage was close to 33 kms per litre of petrol.

The rest of the court proceedings went on and the dealer and manufacturer wanted one more chance and this time to have a neutral commissioner to oversee one more service.

 

The court agreed.

But the dealer and the manufacturer did not pay the court fee.

 

Instead, they messed up by removing the services of one advocate, by hiring another advocate from delhi who further messed it up with the affidavit and version,...etc and submitted a 30 page reply in writing with some bi-cycle case citation ( This is a trick mostly deployed by north indian advocates to issue lengthy replies that run into many pages that have a mixture of relevant and irrelevant information ) since they assume that many advocates would not have the patience to read and would submit to the pressure tactics and exit or move to a settlement out-of-court.

 

The judge threw that aside and preferred to listen to my advocate. I had made it clear to him to be present instead of sending his junior since at Bangalore, advocates do not consider it worth their time to attend consumer forum matters. They feel it is beneath their status and only high court matters are worth their time. But I made my point clear that unless he visits, I shall not pay him.

 

So, finally after weighing the points and based on the merits of the case, the judge ordered the dealer and manufacturer to either replace the vehicle or pay me 1,50,000/- within 75 days.

 

Instead of doing that, just one day before expiry of time limit, the dealer called me and said we can strike a compromise. He wanted me to return the vehicle and take Rs.60,000/-.

 

I asked him to go search for some fool somewhere else and so in my case, just plainly follow the court order.

I could have filed for an execution and obtained a Non-Bailable-Warrant against them but I chose to wait and watch.

He was stubborn. He said he will give me a tough fight. I said OK, let us see.

 

He appealed at the State Commission. 

Now, here they played a trick.

The manufacturer was the apellant and he made me Respondent 1 and foolishly made the dealer as Respondent 2.

 

I dis-continued the services of my advocate, asked him not to file the vakalathnama, asked him to refund 50% of the amount I had already paid him and I argued the case by myself as PIP ( Party in Person ).

 

The case went on for FOUR years.

 

Date tampering, threatening voices, intimidatory glances by his advocate,...etc etc and 21 adjournments,...etc were all done by the dealer and manufacturer.

 

I kept quiet.

 

Once the advocate threatened me and I said point-blank that if he has thousand people supporting him, i have thousand people supporting me.

So, he can try it at three places if he has the guts " one - outside the court ", " two- at the bar council ", " three- at the police commissioner's office "

 

I told him " I am ok with any option. You choose the location and I will choose the time and we will fight there. You box me and I will box you twice. I am not a coward. I give back. I will also deposit Rs.One Thousand at the bar council and argue for your name to be struck off the records instead of mere suspension and you can never practise as an advocate anymore.

 

Parallelly, as soon as that happens, without the black coat and enrollment number, you are a plain individual and an ordinary accused ( spoken language among advocates ), I will file a criminal case of intimidation against you and the same law that you practise now for your survival, will remove your survival since you will be at the receiving end. So do not mis-use the law. The law does not care who you are. So try all your cinema villain show to some fool and not to me. I have seen enough of you people.

 

If you continue to indulge in these intimidatory speech, I will formally write about it to the Judge, the registrar, the registrar-general at the civil court , the registrar-general at the high court and to the chief justice.

 

Those copies of the letters, I will submit at the bar council. So, I know of those methods as well.

 

So, keep your cinema villain dialogues reserved for some fool who might get trapped in your schemes and not to a knowledgeable OP ( opposite party ).

He then never would sit facing me in the court hall.

 

I played it smart as well. I had a particular national commission citation in a similar case, readily available with me and I did not produce that till the last day.

On the day of  final hearing, I produced that suddenly and the advocate looked like a sheep that was shaven of it's wool.

A date was given for the dictation of the judgement.

 

His appeal was admitted, the quantum of compensation brought down but the judge pronounced the verdict instructing them to take the vehicle back and pay me Rs.One Lakh as compensation.

Although the district forum's verdict was modified, I still had the victory into my bag of justice since the main point was that I was given a false assurance and forced to buy a faulty vehicle.

 

This falls under UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES act as per the consumer protection act.

Now, it needs to be seen whether the dealer and manufacturer would exit here after two defeats or move the national commission.

 

I am mentally prepared for a fight up to the supreme court. 

So, as a human being, with a busy life, I hope this ends here. But if no other option exists but to fight it out at the national commission and later at the supreme court, so be it.

 

I am ready.

 

These fraudsters need to punched legally with force.

They gamble away the hard-earned money of the public.

 

So, if you have a vehicle mileage issue, use this citation. I produced this on the last day.

 

https://www.ncdrc.nic.in/rp83101.html

 

Remember to fight it out with Patience. Hire the services of an advocate if you cannot attend every hearing but fight it out.

 

Fight it out and hit back strongly. See how you WIN against these fraudsters and criminals.