LAHORE, Jan 26: Consumer Court Judge Syed Maruf Ahmad Ali on Saturday ordered a vendor to return the money to the petitioner he had paid to purchase an apparatus to gauge blood pressure.

The judge decided that the respondent should give the money back to petitioner Abdul Wahid Chaudhry because the apparatus was faulty.

The petitioner said his wife was suffering from serious hypertension and her blood pressure according to her physician’s advice was to be noted after every two hours. For that purpose, he went to the defendant’s shop on May 11, 2007, and sought the best available apparatus to gauge blood pressure. The respondent, Dr Ijaz, gave him an apparatus for Rs2,500.

The petitioner said the apparatus did not work, and he returned it to the respondent the same day. The respondent told the plaintiff to contact him after three days. When the respondent delayed the matter for over a month, the petitioner served a legal notice on him.

Upon receiving the notice, the respondent said he would replace the apparatus but would not return the money. As the petitioner had already bought an apparatus, he demanded the return of money.

The respondent’s counsel said the claim of the petitioner was barred by time because he was to file a claim within 30 days of the purchase of the apparatus. The judge ruled that evidence’s appraisal revealed that the sold apparatus was faulty and was returned to the vendor the same day it was purchased.

The judge accepted the petition and ordered the vendor to return the amount of the apparatus along with the cost of the case worth Rs1,000.—Reporter