Ernakulam District Consumer court orders Rs 17.83 lakh compensation for defective construction of Harisree Ashokan's house

KOCHI: Ernakulam District Consumer Disputes Redressal Court has ordered Rs 17,83,641 lakh as compensation for the serious mistake made in the construction of 'Punjabi House' of famous movie star Harishree Ashokan. Before the construction of the house named 'Punjabi House' was completed, the colour of the floors faded and started to crack and water and soil started entering through the gaps.

Ashokan purchased the imported floor tiles from PK Tiles Center in Ernakulam and Kerala AGL World. The tiling work was done under the direction of KA Pias, owner of NS Marble Works. Before long after the work was completed, the tiles began to discolour, crack and seep water and soil. The opposite parties were approached several times but no solution was found. Following this, the court was approached.

The opposite parties have taken positions in the court that the complainant could not produce the documents for the purchase of the product, there is no evidence regarding the defect of the product and there are no documents related to the warranty. They also argued that they were not the ones who laid the tiles.

The court held that the action of the opposite parties, who cheated the customer by not providing the invoice, warranty documents and test report and violated the fundamental rights stipulated by the Consumer Protection Act, was a clear picture of unethical business practice and service deficiencies. The bench headed by D B Binu and members Vaikom Ramachandran and TN Srividya opined that the action of the opposite parties which forced the consumer to litigate cannot be accepted in any way.

In the judgement, the court stated that this complaint is a clear example of unethical business practice and serious deficiency in service which unduly harasses the customer.

Rs 16,58,641 should be paid by the second opposite party for the losses suffered by the complainant. The court also directed the opposing parties to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation and Rs 25,000 as court costs within one month.