A Vijayapura resident has dragged a vastu consultation firm to the district consumer forum after he was disappointed that his life did not reflect the promised changes. The firm had said his life would change if he made “architectural corrections” to his house by spending lakhs of rupees.
Based on his complaint, the consumer forum ordered issuance of notice to ‘Sarala Vastu’, the agency run by Chandrashekhar Guruji. Mahadev Dudihal, a legal firm employee, is the petitioner.
In his petition, Mahadev Dudihal, a legal firm employee, said he was facing financial and domestic problems since 2007. “Over a year ago, I saw a television programme in which Guruji advertised about how people benefited after constructing/renovating their houses as per vastu. Since I was suffering from similar problems, I decided to take help of Sarala Vastu,” he said in the petition.
Mr. Dudihal said a firm representative from Hubballi collected Rs. 11,600 as consultation fee and gave him a ‘blueprint’ on the renovation to be taken up according to vastu.
Attaching the copy of the blueprint and a document given by the agency promising positive change within 3 to 8 months of implementation of vastu, the petitioner alleged that even after a year, his life remained unchanged.
“I was facing acute financial crunch, yet hoping that vastu would change my life, I borrowed Rs. 4.5 lakh to renovate the house as suggested by the firm. I demolished the walls, changed the direction of the main door, and made a few more changes. The work took around two months to be completed,” he said.
Mr. Dudihal said he contacted the firm many times and even visited the Hubballi office, but received no favourable response. His advocate P.S. Anantapur said the case has been filed in connection with unfair trade practices and deficiency of service under Consumer Protection Act.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dudihal told The Hindu that he is seeking justice for himself and for others who approached the agency.
Published - March 14, 2016 12:00 am IST
