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(v) In the present case, there was a gross deficiency of service on the part of the appellants and the denial of benefits under the welfare scheme was casual and mechanical. A poor construction worker was constrained to approach the consumer court, faced with the rejection of his application on the specious ground that it was not accompanied by an application for exemption from the procedural requirement of submitting it 90 days before the marriage of his daughter. The defect, if any, was curable and not fatal; and

“…Overall, the affidavits gave a clear picture of a shocking state of affairs inasmuch as some Welfare Boards had expenditure out of the collected cess for payment of entry tax/value added tax, purchase of washing machines for construction workers and purchase of laptops for construction workers. This Court found that rather astonishing since it appeared that there was no rationale in providing washing machines and laptops to construction workers who were by and large poor and uneducated as well as migrant labour…” (emphasis supplied) Adverting to the vulnerabilities of the construction workers, the Court noted: