VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has stayed the Eluru District Consumer Forum orders awarding Rs 1.20 lakh compensation to be paid by the AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) to a farmer.
The farmer, S Srinivasa Rao, approached the forum alleging that a short circuit resulted in a fire that damaged his crop. The consumer forum awarded Rs 1.20 lakh compensation and another Rs 5,000 as costs to be paid by the APEPDCL to the farmer. As the amount was not paid, the farmer filed an execution application seeking implementation of the forum orders. The APEPDCL challenged the forum orders in the High Court.
APEPDCL counsel Metta Chandrasekhar Rao informed that the Supreme Court had given a ruling that consumer forums cannot hear petitions other than pertaining to services and complaints. The bench of Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Rao Raghunandan Rao, issued the stay on the consumer forum orders and posted the matter to April 18.