Mumbai: Observing that people should not suffer due to vacancies in district consumer forums across the state, the Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government to fill them up the earliest.

"So many consumer forums are not functioning as there are no presiding officers. People will suffer because of this," a division bench headed by Justice D D Sinha observed. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by NGO Mumbai Grahak Panchayat stating that out of the 40 consumer district forums across Maharashtra, 19 are non- functional due to the vacant posts of Presidents and Members.
The court was today informed by the government that it has initiated process to fill up the vacancies by issuing advertisements calling for applications.
"Just initiating the process is not enough. You (government) should do it in a reasonable time. When will you finish filling up the vacancies?," Justice Sinha questioned. The court has directed the government to file an affidavit within five weeks stating by when it would complete the procedure of filling up vacancies.
PTI