MARIE STOPES CLINIC Vs. GUDDI BAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present revision petition has been filed by Marie Stopes Clinic & Anr. (hereinafter referred to as the Petitioners) against the order of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Madhya Pradesh (hereinafter referred to as the State Commission) in favour of one Guddi Bai (hereinafter referred to as the Respondent) who was the original complainant before the District Forum.

(2.) THE facts of the case according to the Respondent are that because of the poor economic condition of her husband who is a daily wage labourer, and because she already had two sons one of whom was handicapped, she contacted the Petitioners for conducting a sterilization operation. THE Petitioner/Clinic took Rs.400/- from her and performed the operation on 19.03.2002 and also assured her on two or three occasions when she went for a check-up that the sterilization was successful and she would not conceive any more children. However, after a few months she felt some heaviness in her abdomen and her monthly menstruation also ceased and apprehending that she was pregnant, she again went to the Petitioner/Clinic who confirmed that the sterilization had failed and she was in fact pregnant. She was offered an abortion by the Petitioner/Clinic but it refused to give any guarantee of her life. She, therefore, did not take up their offer and on 13.10.2002, she gave birth to a child who was suffering from Hypospadias, a congenital anomaly of the penis which was the result of the wrong sterilization procedure. Alleging negligence on the part of the Petitioners, Respondent sought relief of Rs.14 lakhs to enable her to bring up this child to which she got no response and therefore, she filed a complaint before the District Forum on the grounds of deficiency in service.

(3.) IN our view, the respondents, first displayed their negligence in not properly informing the patient of the chances of failure and secondly, they compounded their negligence by not going a check up when she came to them after a week.