VINOD KUMARI SRIVASTAVA Vs. HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the judgment and order dated 28.8.12001 passed by District Consumer Forum, Kanpur Dehat in Complaint Case No.952 of 1999.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that the husband of the complainant, Smt. Vinod Kumari Srivastava, is a permanent employee of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Kanpur and is entitled to free medical treatment through HAL Dispensary there. The husband of the complainant Sri Bajrang Bahadur Srivastava, all of a sudden fell sick and was taken to the HAL Hospital at 3.30 a. m. on 10.7.1994. No doctor was available in the dispensary. The Medical Superintendent of the opposite party reached the dispensary two hours late and in the meantime the condition of the complainant's husband deteriorated. He was later on referred to the Institute of Cardiology at Kanpur by the HAL Hospital authorities. It has been alleged that in case the complainant's husband had been attended to promptly then he would not have suffered heart attack for which the complainant had to spend a lot of money in the treatment. Therefore, the doctors in the HAL Hospital are responsible and are liable for negligence as a result of which her husband had become a heart patient. A claim was, therefore, filed before the District Forum for recovery of Rs.2,00,000/- from the opposite party.

(3.) The opposite party, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. , Kanpur filed a joint statement before the District Forum alleging that the Forum has no jurisdiction to try the complaint case because no consideration was charged from the employee of the HAL and the facility of treatment was free of charge. The complainant's husband has given first aid at the dispensary and later on, on the advice of the Medical Superintendent, he was referred to the Medical College, Kanpur. Therefore, there has been no deficiency on the part of the opposite party.