Court case(2022) 2 SCC 161

The appellants, home buyers, had instituted a consumer complaint against the respondent builder before the National Commission under the Consumer Protection Act 1986, at a time when the National Commission had jurisdiction over complaints where the value of the goods or services and the compensation claimed exceeded Rs 1 crore. The Consumer Protection Act 2019 came into force on 20 July 2020 and fixed pecuniary limits on the basis of the consideration paid, under which the complaint would fall within the State Commission's jurisdiction. The National Commission held that pending complaints which fell below its new pecuniary limit should be returned to the complainants for presentation before the appropriate forum under the 2019 Act. The home buyers appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court (D.Y. Chandrachud J., for himself and M.R. Shah J.) allowed the appeal. Jurisdiction is determined on the date of institution of the proceeding. The 2019 Act contains no provision, express or by necessary implication, applying its new pecuniary limits to proceedings already pending; on the contrary, s. 107(2) saves things done under the repealed Act and s. 6 of the General Clauses Act 1897 preserves pending proceedings and accrued rights and remedies. Proceedings instituted before 20 July 2020 must therefore continue before the fora where they were filed, under the jurisdiction of the 1986 Act, and the National Commission's order returning such complaints was set aside.