Arrest order: GNIDA CEO gets shield from 'coercive steps'

NOIDA: The state consumer disputes redress forum, which is hearing an appeal by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) against a district consumer forum order sentencing its CEO to a month in jail, has given it time till January 27 to file a report.
The district consumer forum (DCDRC) passed the order while hearing a plea alleging that the GNIDA had not allotted land to a businessman, Mahesh Mitra, despite an order from the national consumer forum (NCDRC) in 2014 asking it to do so.

On January 7, the district forum sentenced the GNIDA CEO to a month in jail. The order, however, did not mention any particular CEO. The current GNIDA CEO is Ritu Maheshwari. The case pre-dates her tenure.
The GNIDA, subsequently, filed review petitions both with the district and the state forums. Hearings at both forums took place on Monday.
At the state forum, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Kumar (president) and member Vikas Saxena observed that the GNIDA had not complied with the 2014 order. The bench asked the GNIDA to meet Mitra on Thursday and inform it about its decision on allotting land to him by January 27.
"Without going into the merit of the case, we deem it appropriate to direct the complainant, Mahesh Mitra, to file the complete set of documents including the orders passed by DCDRC and NCDRC before the GNIDA CEO on January 19 at 3pm. The CEO will consider all the documents placed before him/her and will take a decision ensuring 100% compliance with the judgment and order passed by the NCDRC dated May 30, 2014. The decision taken by the CEO will be placed before this bench along with an affidavit by January 27," the order read.
The next hearing at the state forum will take place on January 31. "Till the next date of listing, no coercive steps shall be taken in pursuance of the impugned order dated January 7 against the CEO," the order said.
At the district forum, the GNIDA had filed two applications - one on January 9 and another on 12 - against its earlier order of January 7. Hearing the first application, the district consumer forum observed that since the earlier order was "passed on merit after hearing the parties", there was no justification for its review. The application was subsequently dismissed.
In the second application, GNIDA argued that the January 7 order was not applicable to the current CEO as she took charge only on October 1, 2022. Whatever be the action, the authority said in its petition, it should be taken against former CEOs. The GNIDA further said that the complainant, Mitra, was yet to present his stand before the Authority personally, which is why the national forum order of 2014 could not be implemented. The GNIDA counsel sought two and a half months' time.
The district forum gave the GNIDA another 30 days to comply with the order. "If the opposite party (GNIDA) fails to comply with the order within 30 days, the order dated January 7 will be effective as it is," the order stated. The next date of hearing is February 18.