Moot prob

B

‘‘Be Pure’’ vs. ‘‘Festle’’ & Co

·        “Be pure” is a consumer activist NGO whose motto is to ensure that consumers get quality service and products and that they are not exploited. The NGO has a good standing in the country of Nakarta

·        “Festle” &Co. is a renowned food manufacturing company in the country, producing a range of foods from basic materials such as salt and sugar to food supplements. They also run food outlets and fitness centres across the country. Festle’s food chain was ranked as the healthiest food chain in the country by Express Times, a nation-wide daily.

·        Among the numerous products that they manufacture, Festle produces ‘Felloggs’ which is a combination of cereals to be consumed for breakfast and dinner. To promote their product, they advertised in all popular media. The video of the advertisement contains scenes of a home-maker before and after usage of Felloggs. The advertisement shows her losing 3 kg of weight over a period of two weeks due to consumption of Felloggs as prescribed in the directions of use.

·        N-Plan, a beverage for children, is another product manufactured by Festle. The carton of N-Plan shows pictures of a young boy progressively growing in height after drinking a glass of N-Plan everyday. The package promises such growth in height of 3 inches within 3 months on regular consumption.

·        “Be Pure” tested these two products on 10 women and 10 children and the ‘non-random sampling method’ was used in the selection of the samples. The tests involved regular administration of the products to the samples according to the prescribed directions of use. On completion of the tests, it was found

a.          Firstly, that only one among the ten women showed a loss of 2 kg within 2 weeks and there were only minor changes in weight for the other women.

b.         Secondly, none among the 10 children should increase in height of 3 inches within 3 months as advertised. The maximum height was recorded at 1.7 inches. A detailed report on the findings was prepared by experts.

·      Based on the aforementioned tests, “Be Pure” filed a petition before the State Commission of Subway (a state in the country of Nakarta) under Section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1985 (CPA,1986) alleging that Festle was involved in unfair trade practice. The State Commission dismissed the petition summarily with costs on the ground of lack of locus standi. Aggrieved by the order, “Be Pure” preferred an appeal before the National Commission under Section 19 of the CPA, 1986.

·        The laws of Nakarta are pari materia to the laws of India. The reference to CPA, 1986 relates to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 of India.

The following are the issues before the National Commission:

a. Whether the petition is maintainable before the Commission?

b. Whether the advertisements amount to unfair trade practice?

c.  Whether costs can be imposed on the Petitioner?

Note: