The meaning of the word ‘suit’ as per Merrian Webster dictionary is “an action or process in a court for recovery of a right or claim.”
In this connection we also refer the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in case Ethiopian Airlines V/s Ganesh Narain Saboo (Manu/SC/6975/2011). The question in case is whether the proceeding before the Consumer Forum are suits. Following para of the above decision are sufficient to clarify the term ‘suit’:
“53. The term “suit” has not been defined in the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 nor is it provided in the said Act that the term “suit” will have the same meaning as in the Code of Civil Procedure. Therefore, the term “suit” has to be understood in its ordinary dictionary meaning. In that sense, the term “suit” is a generic term taking within its sweep all proceedings initiated by a party for realisation of the right vested in him in law. In this view of the matter, we have to look to the dictionary meaning of the word “suit”.
54. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, the word “suit” means “any proceeding by a party or parties against another in a court of law.”
55. In common parlance, the term “suit” is taken to include all proceedings of a judicial or quasi-judicial nature in which the disputes of aggrieved parties are adjudicated before an impartial forum. Proceedings before the Consumer for a fall squarely within that definition.
56. It has been held in Patel Roadways Limited (supra) that proceedings before the Consumer Forums come within the sweep of the term “suit”. This judgment has been approved by a Constitution Bench of this Court in Economic Transport Organization (supra). Therefore, the controversy involved in this case is finally settled and we are bound by the decision of the Constitution Bench and this case has to be ruled in terms of what has been decided by the Constitution Bench in Economic Transport Organisation (supra).
57. In the same vein, the U.S. Supreme Court has read the term “suit” broadly, finding that a “suit” is “any proceeding in a court of justice by which a person pursues therein that remedy which the law affords him,” Upshur County v. Rich (1890) 135 US 467. Likewise, “the modes of proceeding may be various, but if a right is litigated between parties in a court of justice, the proceeding by which the decision of the court is sought is a suit.” The Michigan Supreme Court similarly found that “the word [“suit”], as applied to legal controversies, both by the legal profession and Ors. is now used and recognized as a generic term of broad significance, often understood and used, even by legislatures and courts, to designate almost any proceeding.” Patterson v. Standard Accident Insurance Company 178 Mich. 288. The proceedings held before the consumer redressal for a easily fall within the aforementioned definitions: these are proceedings in which consumers may pursue the remedies afforded to them by the Consumer Protection Act and other laws and where the rights of the parties are fully litigated by an organ of justice.