SHREE JEEWAN HOSPITAL Vs. RUBINA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition under Sec. 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (in short, the 'Act') assails the order dtd. 31/5/2017 in First Appeal No. 1093 of 2013 of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Delhi (in short, the 'State Commission') dismissing the appeal of the petitioner against order dtd. 25/9/2013 of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Central), Kashmere Gate, Delhi (in short, the 'District Forum') in Consumer Complaint no. 501 of 2009. As per the impugned order, the appeal against order of the District Forum was dismissed, the order of the District Forum upheld and punitive costs imposed.

(2.) The facts as per the petitioner are that the respondent/complainant was admitted in the petitioner's hospital on 15/9/2009 for delivery and in the night around 11.15 pm she delivered a female child. However, during the course of delivery while undertaking stitching, the doctors left a needle in the uterus which resulted in profuse bleeding during the night and pain and trauma. On 16/9/2009 evening an x-ray revealed that a needle had been left in the uterus which was removed through surgery under general anesthesia by one Dr Akash the same day. On 24/11/2009 the respondent/complainant underwent an ultrasound of the abdomen which revealed that the uterus had retroflexed and the medical opinion was that she would not be able to conceive again. Alleging negligence, respondent/complainant filed a complaint before the District Forum claiming Rs.10,00,000.00. The District Forum's order, following a report from the Delhi Medical Council based upon a reference by the Dy. Commissioner of Police (DCP) in pursuance of an FIR odged by the respondent, opining that breaking of needle does happen during stitching of wounds and that the retroflexing of the uterus was not related to this incident, held the petitioner guilty of medical negligence and awarded Rs.3,00,000.00 as compensation for harassment, pain and mental agony and litigation costs of Rs.10,000.00. First Appeal before the State Commission by the petitioner came to be dismissed with costs of Rs.30,00,000.00 for negligence and deficiency in service to be deposited in the State Consumer Welfare Fund within two months or thereafter with interest @ 12% after considering the facts, including an expert opinion of Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi. The instant revision petition impugns this order.

(3.) I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and carefully considered the material on record.