Understanding Public Interest Litigation and Class Action Lawsuits: A Comparative Analysis

In the realm of legal recourse, two mechanisms stand out for their ability to address collective grievances: Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in India and class action lawsuits in countries like the United States. While both serve the purpose of enhancing access to justice, they operate under different frameworks and serve distinct objectives. In this blog post, we’ll explore the similarities and differences between PILs and class actions, shedding light on how each mechanism functions.

Similarities Between PIL and Class Action Lawsuits

1. Collective Representation

Both PILs and class actions allow individuals or groups to seek justice on behalf of a larger community. In a PIL, any public-spirited citizen can file a petition for issues affecting the public interest. Conversely, in class actions, one or more plaintiffs represent a larger group of individuals who have suffered similar harm. This collective representation ensures that the voices of many are heard in court.

Print Page

Whether court should allow some of person to sue in representative capacity?

As held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court
in Tamil Nadu Housing Board (supra), the
interest of the persons on whose behalf the
claim is brought must be common or they must
have a common grievance which they seek to
get addressed. The defect or deficiency in

the goods purchased, or the services hire
or availed of by them should be the same for
all the consumers on whose behalf or for
whose benefit the complaint is filed.
Therefore, the oneness of the interest is
akin to a common grievance against the same
person. If, for instance, a number of flats
or plots in a project are sold by a
builder/developer to a number of persons, he
fails to deliver possession of the said
flats/plots within the time frame promised
by him, and a complaint is filed by one or
more such persons, either seeking delivery
of possession of flats/plots purchased by
them and other purchasers in the said
project, or refund of the money paid by them
and the other purchasers to the
developer/builder is sought, the grievance
of such persons being common i.e. the
failure of the builder/developer to deliver
timely possession of the flats/plots sold to
them, they would have same interest in the
subject matter of the complaint and
sufficient community of interest to justify
the adoption of the procedure prescribed in
Order 1 Rule 8 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, provided that the complaint is
filed on behalf of or for the benefit of all
the persons having a common grievance
against the same developer/builder, and
identical relief is sought for all such
consumers.
The primary object behind permitting a class
action such as a complaint under Section
12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act
being to facilitate the decision of a
consumer dispute in which a large number of
consumers are interested, without recourse
to each of them filing an individual
complaint, it is necessary that such a
complaint is filed on behalf of or for the
benefit of all the persons having such a
community of interest. A complaint on behalf
of only some of them therefore will not be
maintainable. If for instance, 100 flat
buyers/plot buyers in a project have a
common grievance against the
Builder/Developer and a complaint under
Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection
Act is filed on behalf of or for the benefit
of say 10 of them, the primary purpose

behind permitting a class action will not be
achieved, since the remaining 90 aggrieved
persons will be compelled either to file
individual complaints or to file complaints
on behalf of or for the benefit of the
different group of purchasers in the same
project. This, in our view, could not have
been the Legislative intent. The term
'persons so interested' and 'persons having
the same interest' used in Section 12(1)(c)
mean, the persons having a common grievance
against the same service provider. The use
of the words 'all consumers so interested'
and "on behalf of or for the benefit of all
consumers so interested", in Section 12(1)
(c) leaves no doubt that such a complaint
must necessarily be filed on behalf of or
for the benefit of all the persons having a
common grievance, seeking a common relief
and consequently having a community of
interest against the same service provider.”
Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO.1676 OF 2019

ANJUM HUSSAIN Vs   INTELLICITY BUSINESS PARK PVT. LTD.

Uday Umesh Lalit, J.
Dated:May 10, 2019.

Print Page

Whether class action suits can be filed under consumer protection Act?

A complaint under Section 12 (1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act can be filed only on behalf of or for the benefit of all the consumers,
having a common interest or a common grievance and seeking the same / identical relief against the same person. Such a complaint however, shall
not be deemed to have been filed on behalf of or for the benefit of the consumers who have already filed individual complaints before the requisite
permission in terms of Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act is accorded.
Issue No. (ii), (iii) and (iv)
A complaint under Section 12 (1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act is maintainable before this Commission where the aggregate of the value
of the goods purchased or the services hired or availed of by all the consumers on whose behalf or for whose benefit the complaint is instituted and
the total compensation, if any, claimed in respect of all such consumers exceeds Rs.1.00 crore. The value of the goods purchased or the services
hired and availed of by an individual consumer or the size, or date of booking / allotment / purchase of the flat would be wholly irrelevant in such a
complaint where the complaint relates to the sale / allotment of several flats / plots in the same project / building.
Reference dated 11.8.2016
Issue No. (i)It is the value of the goods or services, as the case may be, and not the value or cost of removing the deficiency in the service which is to be
considered for the purpose of determining the pecuniary jurisdiction.
Issue No. (ii)
The interest has to be taken into account for the purpose of determining the pecuniary jurisdiction of a Consumer Forum.
Issue No. (iii)
The consideration paid or agreed to be paid by the consumer at the time of purchasing the goods or hiring or availing of the services, as the
case may be, is to be considered, along with the compensation, if any, claimed in the complaint, to determine the pecuniary jurisdiction of a
Consumer Forum.
Issue No. (iv)
In a complaint instituted under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, the pecuniary jurisdiction is to be determined on the basis of
aggregate of the value of the goods purchased or the services hired or availed by all the consumers on whose behalf or for whose benefit the
complaint is instituted and the total compensation claimed in respect of such consumers.
Issue No. (v) & (vi)
A complaint under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act can be instituted only by one or more consumers, as defined in Section
2(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act. Therefore, a group of Cooperative societies, Firms, Association or other Society cannot file such a
complaint unless such society etc. itself is a consumer as defined in the aforesaid provision.
Issue No. (vii)
More than one complaints under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act are not maintainable on behalf of or for the benefit of
consumers having the same interest i.e. a common grievance and seeking the same / identical against the same person. In case more than one such
complaints have been instituted, it is only the complaint instituted first under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, with the requisite
permission of the Consumer Forum, which can continue and the remaining complaints filed under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act
are liable to be dismissed with liberty to join in the complaint instituted first with the requisite permission of the Consumer Forum.
The individual complaints instituted before grant of the requisite permission under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act can
continue despite grant of the said permission but it would be open to such complainants to withdraw their individual complaints and join as parties to
the complaint instituted in a representative character. However, once the requisite permission under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act
is granted, an individual complaint, expressing the same grievance will not be maintainable and the only remedy open to a consumer having the same
grievance is to join as a party to the complaint instituted in a representative character.
16. Before parting with the references, we would like to emphasise that considering the binding effect of a decision rendered in a complaint under
Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, on all the consumers, on whose behalf or for whose benefit such a complaint is filed, even if they
chose not to join as a party to the complaint, it is necessary to exercise due care and caution while considering such a complaint even at the initialstage and to grant the requisite permission, only where the complaint fulfils all the requisite conditions in terms of Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer
Protection Act read with Order I Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure; as interpreted in this reference. It would also be necessary for the Bench to
either give individual notices or an adequate public notice of the institution of the complaint to all the persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit
the complaint is instituted. Such a notice should disclose inter­alia (i) the subject matter of the complaint including the particulars of the project if
the complaint relates to a housing project / scheme, (ii) the class of persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit the complaint is filed, (iii) the
common grievance sought to get redressed through the class action, (iv) the alleged deficiency in the services and (v) the reliefs claimed in the
complaint.
It will also be necessary to hear the opposite party, before taking a final view on the grant or otherwise of the permission required in terms of
Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act.NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION
NEW DELHI
CONSUMER CASE NO. 97 OF 2016
 AMBRISH KUMAR SHUKLA 
V
 FERROUS INFRASTRUCTURE PVT. LTD.

BEFORE:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D.K. JAIN,PRESIDENT
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V.K. JAIN,MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. B.C. GUPTA,MEMBER
Dated : 07 Oct 2016

Print Page