ADITYA BHATI Vs. RIZVANA AMUSEMENT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The complainant, who at the relevant time was a second year student of PGDM course at Ishan Institute of Management and Technology, Greater Noida along with his two friends visited the Dussehra Mela organized by Ram Leela Committee, Greater Noida on 10.10.2013. The complainant and his friends purchased tickets for the amusement ride "Dancing Chairs", paying Rs.30/- each. The said ride was being operated by OP No.1 Rizvana Amusement, a proprietorship concern of one Ismail alias Kuddus. The complainant occupied a cubicle which did not have safety belt/iron rod installed at the designated place, while his friends waited for their turn on the said ride. One of the seats/cubicles having broken, the person sitting on the said seat fell backwards and collided with the complainant. The friends of the complainant and other members of the public who were waiting for their turn in the queue yelled at the officials of the OP No.1 and asked them to shut down the ride. They, however, remained inattentive to the mishap which had taken place. Since the ride was not immediately shut down, the head of the complainant kept colliding with the head of the person whose seat had broken. The process continued till the friend of the complainant and some members of the public shut down the generator as a result of which the ride came to be halt. The officials of OP No.1, however, grabbed their cash box and fled from the spot. The complainant who had become unconscious and was bleeding profusely on account of multiple collisions was taken by his friends to a hospital in their own vehicle as no ambulance was arranged by the officials of Ram Leela Committee, despite the fact that one ambulance had been stationed at the venue of the Dussehra Mela. The driver/owner of the ambulance, however, was not found nor could the key of the ambulance be arranged, the complainant was admitted to Kailash Hospital at Greater Noida from where he was shifted to Kailash Hospital, Noida where he was kept under treatment in the ICU. He was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury along with left head injury and suffered from parietal extra hemorrhage to the brain. He was kept on ventilator for several days. An FIR with respect to the aforesaid incident was recorded at Greater Noida. The condition of the complainant, however, deteriorated and he was subjected to several treatments not only at Kailash Hospital but also at Yatharth Wellness Hospital and Trauma Centre. It is also alleged that the complainant and his family members incurred medical expenses to the tune of about Rs.11 lakhs which are likely to go upward since he has not recovered from the injuries sustained by him. According to the complainant most of his body functions have been impaired on account of serious head injury sustained by him and he is confined to the bed in a vegetable stage, surviving only on liquid food. Being aggrieved from the deficiency in the services rendered to him, the complainant is before this Commission seeking the following reliefs:-

(2.) Notice having issued by this Commission only to the operator of the ride, the main questions which arise for consideration in this complaint are as to whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of the OP Rizvana Amusement in rendering services to the complainant and if so what should the quantum of compensation to be awarded to him. The aforesaid opposite party, namely, Rizvana Amusement was proceeded ex parte on 9.10.2014 since no one appeared for it despite notice.

(3.) In his rather unhappily framed affidavit by way of evidence, Shri Manbir Singh father of the complainant has inter alia stated that the complainant along with his friends visited the Dussehra Mela at about 7.00 p.m on 10.12.2013. They purchased tickets of Rs.30/- each and the complainant occupied one of the seats/cubicles, while his friends were waiting for their turn to get on the ride which was being operated by OP No.1. He has further stated that since the ride was being operated at a very high speed, all its parts including seats/cubicles started shaking and vibrating dangerously. The seat/cubicle in which the complainant was seated did not have a safety belt/iron bar installed at the designated place. He has further stated that one of the seats/cubicles in the ride broke and the persons sitting in it fell backwards colliding with the complainant. The friends of the complainant who were standing in the queue and the other members of the public shouted and yelled at the officials of the OP No.1 to shut the ride. They, however, did not do so, as a result of which the head of the complainant kept colliding with the head of the person whose seat/cubicle had broken. When the officials of the OP realized that an accident had taken place, they fled from the scene along with their cash box. The complainant was taken to hospital in an unconsciousness state and was admitted to Kailash Hospital at Greater Noida at about 11 p.m., from where he was shifted to Kailaksh Hospital, Noida Sector-27, where he was kept under the treatment in the ICU. He has further stated that the family had already spent about Rs.11 lakhs on the treatment of the complainant and the said expenditure was likely to go upto Rs.20 lakhs.