Can An Investor Use 2 Laws To Recover Money
Can An Investor Use 2 Laws To Recover Money
Can An Investor Use 2 Laws To Recover Money
Jehangir B Gai
Subject:
A complaint under the MPID Act would not debar the filing of a consumer
complaint
Backdrop:
The middle-class tries to save for its old age.They invest their savings in schemes,
which appear to be most remunerative. Taking advantage of this,many
unscrupulous organisations float dubious fixed deposit schemes promising
attractive returns and then default in paying interest or even in returning the
principal amount invested.
Investors who lose their hard-earned money are worried and try to exploit all
possible avenues to recover their money. The Government of Maharashtra has
specially enacted a legislation known as Maharashtra Protection of Interests of
Depositors (MPID) Act. Investors often file a complaint under the MPID Act as
well as the Consumer Protection Act (CPA),hoping that somehow the former or
the latter will help in recovering their money.But companies try to argue that if
one remedy is availed of,the other remedy would be barred.
Is this contention correct Does a complaint under the MPID Act bar the filing of a
complaint under the CPA and vice versa This issue has been resolved in a recent
judgment of the National Commission in the case of Arun Kashinath Pingale
(Wani) & Ors v/s Madhukar Sonanis & Ors in Revision Petition No 1510 of 2009
decided on April 1,2010 [ V-2010 (2) CPR 261 (NC)
Case Study:
Impact:
It is unfortunate that traders and service providers often float schemes, which are
attractive rather than economically viable,with a view to dupe gullible
consumers.Thereafter,they waste money on futile litigation rather than gracefully
pay up when caught on the wrong foot.
(The author is a consumer activist and has won the government of Indias
National Youth Award for Consumer Protection.His e-mail id is jehangir-
[email protected])