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The points which emerges in this revisional application are firstly whether the consumer forum is competent to pass an order for execution and registration of the sale deed, secondly exclusion of the jurisdiction of the civil court under special statute applies to the consumer forum as well.

To maintain a complain before the consumer forum the complainant should be a consumer as defined under Section 2 (d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. It would be profitable to quote the definition given to the word "consumer" under the said section which reads thus:

Initially I was inclined to hold that the consumer forum does not have any power to pass an order which is, in effect, a decree for specific performance of an agreement for sale but after noticing the judgment of the Apex court in case of M Frances B Martins (supra), as well as the division bench judgment of this court in case of Mandira Mukherjee Vs. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum reported in (2005) 4 CHN 694 the position is reversed. In case of Mr. Frances B Martins (supra) the district forum rejected the complaint on the ground of limitation but the State Commission while allowing an appeal passed direction for specific performance of an agreement which was affirmed by the National Commission. The Apex Court in the aforesaid backdrop did not interfere with the order passed by the State Commission. The Division Bench in case of Mondira Mukherjee (supra) was considering the similar point as involved in this writ petition and observed:

"....merely because the sections of the Specific Relief Act confer discretion on Courts to grant specific performance of a contract does not mean that parties cannot agree that the discretion will be exercised by a Forum of their choice. If the converse were true, then whenever a relief is dependent upon the exercise of discretion of a Court by stature e.g. the grant of interest or costs, parties could be precluded from referring the dispute to arbitration."

7.3. True that this decision was related to arbitration but that would not preclude the Consumer Forum to be placed in the shoes of the arbitrator principally on the ration decided in those decisions. The question is whether any forum other than Civil Courts can exercise discretion with regard to specific performance of contract for sale of an immovable property in terms of the Specific Relief Act or whether the jurisdiction of the Consumer Forum is excluded by reason of any provision contained in the Specific Relief Act. If it can be true in relation to arbitration then there cannot be any bar of its being equally true in relation to a proceeding before the Consumer Forum.

By respecting the judicial discipline as well as Article 141 of the Constitution of India, I am bound by the law declared by the Apex court as well as the Division Bench and thus hold that the Consumer Forum is competent to pass an order for execution and registration of the title deed.

On bare reading of Section 3 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 there is no doubt that the said Act is in addition to and not in derogation with any law. It cannot be conceived that the jurisdiction of the Civil Court is excluded and vested upon the Consumer Forum but it is an establishment of a special forum which does not offend any statute or any other law. If the special statute enacted for the purpose of determination and/or adjudication in relation and/or touching the matter covered therein by a special forum whether the consumer forum can still invoke its jurisdiction by taking recourse to Section 3 of the said Act. Before proceeding further, it would be profitable to quote Section 12 A of the West Bengal Building (Regulation of Promotion of Construction and Transferred by Promoters) Act, 1993 which reads thus: