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Notice was issued by the Gujarat High Court on a PIL, that sought for information pertaining to the Origin of products sold through E-Commerce.
The Division Bench that comprised of Chief Justice and Justice JB Pardiwala, issued notice to the Union of India and other respondents that included the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
The plea filed was based on the Government’s new “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” which is concerned with promoting self-sufficiency and self-reliance within the economy.
The “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” proposes to promote products that are manufactured within the country. Which also gives importance to is carrying out the production of products that are imported. It urges buyers to buy products that were indigenously produced.
The petition, that was filed by Advocate Yatin Soni seeks for guidelines to be issued by the Government to impose restrictions on products that abstain from mentioning the place of manufacturing.
"It has been observed that the web portals and/or Mobile applications of the E-commerce platforms do not state the "Place of Manufacturing and the country where the company manufacturing the product is based "conspicuously" which makes it difficult and/or impossible for the prospective consumer of the product to know about the country/place of manufacturing of the product which he/she intends to purchase. It also becomes difficult and/or impossible to know if the company manufacturing the product is based in India or in a foreign country or if the majority shareholding of the company selling the product on the E-Commerce platform is of a parent company outside India."
It also stated that:
"It is only when the product is delivered to the customer that the customer comes to know that the product is either made in India or in a country which is not in the list of his/her preferences. It also happens that a large number of people purchase the product online, and when they get the delivery of the said product, to their utter surprise, they do not find that products contain the name of the company who and where it has manufactured the said product."
In a democracy, sovereignty lies in the people. It is the people who appoint governments as well as dismiss them. The Constitution of India was adopted and enacted in the name of ‘We the people of India.’ The two major institutions of governance, namely the Parliament and the state legislatures, are constituted by representatives of the people and are elected through “free and fair” elections. The legislatures and the governments are made of the representatives of the people. The Constitution though has not explicitly created any mechanism to reinforce the responsibility of the other wing of the government: the public administrative system.
Without transparency, there is bound to be distrust in the government. Lesser the secrecy more shall be the faith of the people in the government. People must get an opportunity to ventilate their grievances, and also suggest alternatives to policies and methods by which the government can realize the people’s wants and needs. The right of the people to information is a condition precedent to accountable and participatory governance.
The petitioner also asserted that as per Section 2(9)(vi) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, every citizen had the right to Consumer Awareness.
Hence, the petitioner sought that directions be issued to the respondents to immediately act upon the same and take necessary steps to ensure that all web portals/pages mention the place of origin of products.
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