# SC says consumer forums not for retired judges’ rehabilitation 2026-08-13T22:47:17+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Supreme Court on Thursday criticised consumer forums for their slow disposal of cases, saying they cannot become 'rehabilitation centres for retired judges and bureaucrats'. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V Mohana flagged a news report that a consumer case filed in 2019 was listed only once in 2022 and had no hearing until 2026. The court ordered a pan-India performance evaluation of these quasi-judicial bodies. The bench directed the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) president to submit a report within two weeks on total pendency, vacancies, average disposal rate, and estimated time to clear pending matters. States must also provide data on district and state commissions. Over 5.7 lakh cases are pending across the three-tier system, with district forums accounting for more than 4 lakh. The court also asked the Union government about setting up regional NCDRC benches to reduce travel for poor consumers. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com - timesnownews.com Tags: consumer forums, consumer rights, NCDRC, pendency, retired judges, Supreme Court Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sc-says-consumer-forums-not-rehabilitation-centres-for-retired/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sc-says-consumer-forums-not-rehabilitation-centres-for-retired/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.