Directing sending of the arrest warrants to the commissioner of police in the capital and Mumbai, the consumer court said: "Finding no other way to get our orders implemented, all directors be summoned through non-bailable warrants for July 30 to show cause as to why action should not be taken against them under Consumer Protection Act."

A bench of consumer redressal disputes forum-II comprising its president TC Gupta and members SP Chopra and N Kumar observed that the directors were not responding to the court's summons "showing that there is deliberate avoidance on their part".

Besides Doshi, another managing director JML Vakti and two directors Maitreya V Doshi and Arvind R Doshi have also been issued non-bailable warrants bythe court in response to petitions filed by 59 complainants.

On September 28 last year, the forum had directed the company to pay back the booking amount of Rs 25,000 each for the 'Peugeot 309' car along with penal interests of various nature to 167 consumers who had filed complaints in the forum against PAL-Peugeot.

The court had directed PAL-Peugeot to pay 9 per cent interest on the booking amount from the date of booking till the date of cancellation and another 18 per cent interest after the date of cancellation till actual date of payment.

It also ordered the company to pay a compensation of Rs 2,500 to each of the complainants for mental harrassment and another Rs 1,000 apiece towards litigation cost.

"If the order is not complied with within the same period (60 days), the whole amount calculated shall fetch an interest of 24 per cent from the date of this order till payment," the consumer forum added.

The customers had deposited the booking amount with the company in April 1995. ButPAL-Peugeot failed to deliver the cars on time and did not refund the amount despite cancellation.

Earlier, PAL-Peugeot had approached the Delhi state consumer forum saying that the complainants were not covered by the defination of 'consumer' as given in the act and the district forum did not have the right to hear such cases.

The state forum had dismissed both the arguments. PAL-Peugeot is a joint venture between Premier Automobiles and French auto major Peugeot for manufacture of the Peugeot 309 passenger-car model.