For seven months now, justice has been on hold at the Varanasi District Consumer Forum (1). The reason is not a shortage of judges or legal deadlock but the absence of a stenographer (2). Since the retirement of the forum’s only stenographer in March, more than 1,200 cases (3) have remained undecided. Despite repeated reminders, no replacement has been appointed.

The forum, which is legally required to dispose of complaints within six months, has been reduced to conducting hearings without being able to deliver verdicts (4). The forum’s president said four letters have been sent to the directorate seeking appointment of a stenographer, even on contract or honorarium basis, but none of them have received a response. “Without a stenographer, orders cannot be typed, and the process is paraly

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