AJIT DODAGOUDA PATIL vs SUNDERAM FINANCE LTD.

The Supreme Court held that complaints filed under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, are not maintainable before the District Forum if the jurisdiction is lacking. The Court granted the appellant the liberty to file a properly constituted suit in a civil court. Additionally, the time spent in prosecuting the complaint before the consumer fora shall be excluded under Section 14 of the Limitation Act for computing the limitation period. Consequently, the orders of the District Forum, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission were set aside, allowing the appellant to withdraw the complaint.