Supreme Court Refuses To Review Order Affirming Doctors' Liability Under Consumer Protection Act

The Supreme Court recently dismissed a review petition filed against its order which refused to reconsider the 1995 judgment in Indian Medical Association v. VP Shantha) where it was held that doctors and medical professionals come within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (as re-enacted in 2019).

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan passed the order in the following terms:

"Having perused the Review Petition and the connected papers with meticulous care, we do not find any justifiable reason to entertain the review petition. The Review Petition is, accordingly, dismissed".

To recapitulate, on May 14, 2024, a 2-judge bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, while holding that legal professionals were not covered by Consumer Protection Act, had observed that the judgment in VP Shantha required reconsideration. The bench requested the Chief Justice of India to refer the VP Shantha judgment to a larger bench for reconsideration.

Later, the matter came before the 3-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan which, in November, 2024, declined reconsideration of VP Shantha judgment, saying that the reference by the 2-judge bench was unnecessary.

"We find that the issue before the Court was with regards to the legal profession and Court in unequivocal terms came to a conclusion that the legal profession is not covered by the provisions of Consumer Protection Act. Since the Court came to the aforesaid finding, irrespective of the finding of this Court in Shantha, the reference was not necessary. The question as to whether the other professionals excluding legal profession could be covered by the Consumer Protection Act can be considered in appropriate cases, having a factual foundation... In view of the matter, we dispose of the reference", the Court observed.

This order was sought to be reviewed by way of the present petition, but the Court found no reason to entertain it.

Case Title: MEDICO LEGAL SOCIETY OF INDIA VERSUS BAR OF INDIAN LAWYERS & ORS., DIARY NO(S). 57132/2024 IN C.A. NO. 2646/2009

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