Dr. Mukund Sarda says that district forums need suo motu powers in CP Act

Principal of New Law College, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Pune Dr. Mukund Sarda said that it was necessary for the district forums and state commissions to have suo motu powers under Consumer Protection Act, 1986 to safeguard the interest of the consumers. The CP Act has become a little obsolete and needs

amendments to be more effective. Dr. Mukund Sarda Sarda expressed his concerns in a seminar organized by him at the campus on Consumer Policies. At this event, he was joined by Maharashtra state commission judicial member S A Kulkarni, Pune district forum president V P Utpat, senior lawyer S K Jain , President of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Justice DK Jain and other eminent personalities.

Recently, a few amendments in the CP Act have also been proposed to the Union Cabinet committee. In this regard, Dr. Mukund Sarda organized a symposium on consumer policies in the campus. Present at this event were Maharashtra state commission judicial member S A Kulkarni, Pune district forum president V P Utpat, senior lawyer S K Jain, President of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Justice DK Jain and other eminent personalities.

If the amends are improved, then the district consumer forums and state commissions will get suo motu powers to initiate cases in the matters that affect a large number of consumers. This would involve the power to recall and review orders, improved financial jurisdiction, facilitating mediation and changes in recruitment procedures for judicial members.

A greater stress would be laid on promoting mediation as an alternative dispute solving mechanism. District forums and State commissions would have an increased pecuniary jurisdiction, raised from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

Justice D K Jain said that a full draft of the amended CP Act is presently before the Union Cabinet Committee. It will perhaps reshape the entire CP Act instead of making a few tweaks.

Dr. Mukund Sarda with Hon'ble Sri MC Mehta

Hon'ble Sri MC Mehta Senior Advocate of Supreme Court Of India attending "Legal Discourse on Environmental Law & Human Rights"

Bharati Vidyapeeth ILC Award Ceremony

Professional Harnessing By Innovators,Legendary Scholars & Senior Advocate Hon’ble Shri. Narayan Murthy Executive Chairman, Infosys Ltd.

Prof.Dr.Mukund Sarda

Dr. Mukund Sarda, Dean of Law faculty of Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University New Law College Pune became the Principal of Law College in the year 1991 at a very young age of 25 years.


MUKUND SARDA NEWS


Educational age bar under attack
Pune law courses n Bar Council limits upset legal fraternity

Former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani has criticised the decision of the Bar Council of India to introduce a minimum age limit of 20 years for BA LLB and 30 years for LLB. “I do not see any logic in this decision,” he said on Sunday. He was speaking to journalists after a speech on “Right to Defence” at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University’s New Law College Pune at Erandwane.

The council had, in its new set of rules on standards of legal education released last week, stipulated that students from the open category taking admission for the LLB old course in 2009-10 should have attained 30 years of age, while those from the reserved category should be at least 35. Open category students seeking admission for BA LLB would have to be at least 20 years of age, while the age limit for students in the reserved category would be 22.

Lawyers, academics and students have criticised the decision. Sureshchandra Bhosale, dean, faculty of law, University of Pune, said, “It is not justified and the council has not stated any reasons for the decision. The university will take the lead in filing a petition against the decision,” he said.

The university will convene a meeting of representatives of all eight universities in Maharashtra by this month-end to discuss the decision. Bhosale said the council had issued a similar decision a decade ago, which was turned down by the Supreme Court. The university has 23 law colleges under its jurisdiction, with the total number of law colleges in the state being 75.

Mukund Sarda, dean and principal, New Law College of Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Pune said such an age limit could be justified for interdisciplinary courses like B Tech-LLB, BBA -LLB and others. “However, an age limit for LLB and BA LLB is debatable,” he said.

Janaki V, a second year law student of ILS Law College, too said it was unfair to introduce an age limit for the course. “Education must be for all, irrespective of age. The council should justify it or should have considered the opinion of experts before taking such a decision,” she said.