By Sujoy Dhar Mar 30, 2007, 14:02 GMT
Kolkata/New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday admitted a Rs.1.43 billion compensation claim by a non-resident Indian whose wife died due to allegedly wrong treatment during a visit to Kolkata in May 1998.
A division bench of B.N Agarwal and K.K. Nawelkar Friday admitted the medical compensation claim, the highest in the country till date, made by US-based AIDS researcher Kunal Saha.
The claim was filed against five Kolkata doctors - Sukumar Muherjee, Baidyanath Halder, Abani Roychowdhury, Balaram Prasad and Kausik Nandy - who treated Saha's wife Anuradha and the AMRI Hospital in Kolkata.
In June 2006, Delhi-based National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had dismissed Saha's compensation case after seven years of hearing.
'What happened in court Friday is a big relief for me. It is just great after so many setbacks in other courts,' Saha told IANS over telephone from Delhi.
Not only did the apex court admit the appeal against the NCDRC judgment Friday, it also directed that the appeal be tagged along with a criminal case currently pending with the Supreme Court against Mukherjee, Halder and Roychowdhury.
Along with the compensation case, Saha had also filed a 'criminal negligence' case under the Indian Penal Code against the three senior doctors.
The Alipore trial court in Kolkata had found Mukherjee and Halder guilty of criminal negligence and sentenced them to three months' rigorous imprisonment with a fine Rs.3,000 on May 29, 2002. The Calcutta High Court later reversed the conviction in March 2004.
However, in September 2005, the Supreme Court had admitted a special leave petition filed by Saha against the Calcutta High Court judgment. The 'criminal appeal' by Saha is currently pending before the apex court.
Appearing on behalf of Saha, advocate M.N. Krishnamani argued in the Supreme Court that while the 'criminal' case against the three doctors - where 'gross negligence' by the doctors has to be proved - has been allowed by the court, the NCDRC has wrongfully rejected the compensation case where only 'negligence' has to be established.
The 'criminal' appeal is likely to come up for a final decision soon.
As the compensation case was tagged along with the 'criminal' case Friday, both the cases would be decided by the apex court.
Saha has already given a written submission in the court that he would spend the entire money, if and when he wins, for the promotion of healthcare in India. He has formed the 'People for Better Treatment' (PBT), a humanitarian society to help victims of medical negligence.
An HIV/AIDS specialist in Columbus, Ohio, Saha was also present in the court Friday.
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service
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