NEW DELHI, Nov 11: The president of the National Consumer Disputes and Redressal Commission, former Supreme Court judge K S Paripoornan, has gone back home leaving the commission orphaned. The reason: He was asked to move out of his room in Kerala House to a smaller one and he has not yet been given accommodation.

Justice Paripoornan left the capital on November 8 after he was asked by the Kerala House officials to shift to a smaller room as they had to accommodate Chief Minister E K Nayanar and his senior ministerial colleagues. Protocol officials at Kerala House confirmed the incident. ``It was simply a case of priority. According to our protocol, the Governor, the Chief Minister and cabinet ministers fall under A-1 category for the three suites. Chief Justice and judges fall under A-2. But being retired, Paripoornan did not fall under any of these categories,'' said an official.

Paripoornan has written a letter to the Union Civil Supplies Minister and the Chief Justice of India, informing them of his decision to leave the capital. ``I am sorry that no serious efforts have been made to provide me with suitable accommodation and other facilities commensurate with my status. It is difficult to discharge my duties without the facilities which are provided by the rules,'' it said.

In the letter, Paripoornan also said that once the accommodation is finalised for him, he will consider as to what he should further do in the matter.

In fact, Rule 11 in the statute of the Consumer Protection Act and Rule of 1987 says: ``The president of the National Commission shall be entitled to salary allowances and other perquisites as are available to a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.''

Though the problem of accommodation was pointed out much earlier, according to officials at the Commission, repeated requests for ``earmarking a house'' were buried in the files of Ministries of Civil Supplies and Urban Development.

In fact, official requests from the Commission for a house for its president had begun on August 1, when it was decided that Paripoornan would take over. But the house was not ready even on October 20 when he landed in Delhi. He was accommodated at Kerala House after a request from the Union Government. A spokesman of the Urban Development Ministry said: ``The allocation of houses depends on the availability.''

On November 7, the Commission received a message from the Kerala House authorities saying that the Justice's room would have to be changed. The same evening, he was asked to shift to a smaller room and the next morning, Paripoornan left the city. Sources close to Paripoornan said that he will not come back until ``facilities are made foolproof.'' When contacted at Kochi, Paripoornan, however, refused to comment on the issue. His departure is bound to create considerable embarrassment to the United Front mandarins who spoke eloquently about strengthening the Commission in the Common Minimum Programme. As many as 4,800 cases are pending with the commission.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.