A consumer court has imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on a complainant for failing to prove his allegation that he found a fly in a bottle of soft drink.
Naeem Ahmed Khan had approached the Consumer Protection Court (East) against a beverage company after he allegedly found a fly in a cold drink bottle. Judicial Magistrate Fahmida Sahoowal of the Consumer Protection Court (East) announced her judgement after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.
“The present complaint being false & frivolous is dismissed with cost of Rs10,000, out which the complainant is liable to pay Rs5,000 to the accountant of public exchequer through the Nazir and Rs5,000 to the respondent No.1 [plant manager of the company],” she ruled.
The complainant stated that he purchased two bottles of cold drink from a Haleem shop in April last year. When he took the bottles out of a shopper at home, a fly was found floating inside one of them, he alleged, adding that without opening it, he went back to the shopkeeper to return it, but to no avail.
He pleaded with the court to direct the company to pay the cost of the bottle as well as a Rs1 million fine to him. In his reply, the plant manager had denied the allegation and pleaded with the court to dismiss the plaint with cost for “being hopelessly time-barred and having no cause of action”.
“This forum is only for consumers who are really sustained financial loss, physical discomfort, anxiety etc due to the faulty services/manufacturing defect and unfair/unprofessional trade practices of service provider and manufacturer and not for those who fulfill their means by blackmailing others,” the magistrate observed, adding, “The complainant failed to prove his stance; hence, he is not entitled to recover any damages/compensation in this regard.”