In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court of India has held an Ernakulam hospital in Kerala liable for handing over the body of a deceased patient to the wrong family, who subsequently cremated it. The Court restored a compensation award of Rs 25 lakhs to the aggrieved family, finding the hospital guilty of a deficiency in service.
Case Background
The bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued the judgment while disposing of cross-appeals filed by both the complainants and the hospital. The case originated from an incident on December 30, 2009, when R. Purushothaman was admitted to Ernakulam Medical Centre and passed away the same night. His family requested that his body be kept in the hospital’s mortuary. Concurrently, Lt. Col. A.P. Kanthy was admitted on December 28, 2009, and died on December 31, 2009, with his body also placed in the hospital’s mortuary.
When Purushothaman’s family arrived to collect his body on January 1, 2010, they discovered that the hospital had mistakenly handed it over to Kanthy’s family, who had already cremated it. Purushothaman’s family subsequently filed a complaint with the Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC), seeking Rs 1 crore in compensation for the hospital’s negligence.
Legal Proceedings
On October 5, 2016, the SCDRC ruled in favor of the complainants, awarding them Rs 25 lakhs in compensation with 12 percent interest per annum from the date of the complaint. The hospital appealed this decision to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which on July 4, 2019, reduced the compensation to Rs 5 lakhs and directed the hospital to deposit Rs 25 lakhs into the Consumer Legal Aid Account of the State Commission.
Both the complainants and the hospital appealed against this decision to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court’s Ruling
The Supreme Court bench disapproved of the NCDRC’s reduction of the compensation amount, emphasizing that there was no justification for such interference. The bench highlighted that the SCDRC had thoroughly considered the facts and evidence before determining that Rs 25 lakhs was an appropriate compensation for the grievous mistake committed by the hospital.
“We are of the opinion that there was no justification for passing such an order. The SCDRC had applied its mind on entire conspectus of facts and the evidence produced by the parties and thereafter arrived at a conclusion that ₹ a sum of 25,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Lakhs only) would be adequate compensation for the complainants,” the Court stated.
The Supreme Court reinstated the SCDRC’s original order of Rs 25 lakhs but reduced the interest rate on the compensation from 12 percent to 7.5 percent per annum. It also allowed the complainants to withdraw Rs 10 lakhs already deposited by the hospital with the SCDRC, along with any accrued interest, and directed the hospital to pay the remaining Rs 15 lakhs with interest to the complainants.
Representation
- For Complainants: Mr. V. Chitambaresh, Sr. Adv; Mr. A. Karthik, AOR; Ms. Smrithi Suresh, Adv.; Mr. Sugam Agrawal, Adv.; Mr. C. Govind Venugopal, Adv.
- For Hospital: Mrs. K. Radha, Adv; Mr. K. Maruthi Rao, Adv; Mrs. Anjani Aiyagari, AOR.
Case Reference
- Case Title: M/s Ernakulam Medical Centre & Anr. v. Dr. P.R. Jayasree & Anr.
- Case No.: Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 3545/2020
