The Supreme Court has said that hiring a lawyer is not mandatory for a person to fight his case in a consumer forum and he can plead his case personally or through his agent.

A three-judge bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari Justices M K Sharma and Anil R Dave said that the Consumer Protection Act mentioned clearly that a person can plead his case through his agent and it would be against the consumer to force him to hire the services of an advocate for his case.

The court turned down the plea of Bar Council of India which pleaded that only advocates should be allowed to appear before a consumer forum.