ASHISH KUMAR MAZUMDAR versus AISHI RAM BATRA CHARITABLE HOSPITAL TRUST & ORS.

Citation: [2014] 5 S.C.R. 519 · Decided: 22-04-2014 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: P. SATHASIVAM · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

[2014] 5 S.C.R. 519 
ASHISH KUMAR MAZUMDAR 
v. 
AISHI RAM BATRA CHARITABLE HOSPITAL TRUST & 
ORS. 
(Civil Appeal No. 4010 of 2010) 
APRIL 22, 2014 
[P. SATHASIVAM CJI, RANJAN GOGOi AND 
N.V. RAMANA, JJ.] 
A 
B 
Medical Negligence - Principle of res ipsa /oquitur -
C 
Applicability of - Plaintiff admitted as indoor patient in the 
Hospital and suffering with high fever and in delirious state -
Found lying below the window of his hospital room with 
multiple fractures and despite treatment became a paraplegic 
i.e. 100% disabled below the waist - Suit for damages on the 
D 
ground that absence of due and reasonable care on the part 
of the hospital authorities led to the incident disabling the 
plaintiff for rest of his life .:... Courts b.elow applied the principle 
of res ipsa loquitur to cast the burden of proving on the 
defendant that there was no negligence and thereafter held 
E 
that the defendant was liable for negligence and failure to take 
due care - Held: There was no error in c/pplication of the 
principle of.res ipsa loquitur to the present case - Insofar as 
the findings of negligence and absence of due care of the 
defendant was concerned, 'such findings being concurrent 
F 
findings of fact the same ought not to be reopened in appeal 
filed by defendant-hospital u/Art~ 136 of the Constitution - Any 
such exercise would be wholly inappropriate to the 
extraurdinary and highly discretionary jurisdiction vested in 
the Supreme Court by the Constitution - Even otherwise, 
G 
nothing inherently improbable or outrageously illogical in the 
conclusions reached by the Trial ~udge as affirmed by High 
Court - Maxims - Res ipsa /oquitur. 
Medical Negligence -
Compen~ation - Damages -
. 
519 
/ 
H 
; 
520 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2014] 5 S.C.R. 
A Plaintiff admitted as indoor patient in the Hospital and 
suffering with high fever and in delirious state - Found lying 
below the window of his hospital coom with multiple fractures 
and despite tre-atment became a paraplegic i.e. 100% 
disabled below the waist - Suit for damages on the ground 
8 that absence of due and reasonable care on the part of the 
hospital authorities led to the incident disabling the plaintiff 
for rest of his life - Courts below of the view that duty of a 
hospital is not limited to diagnosis and treatment but extends 
to looking after the safety and security of the patients, 
particularly, those who are sick or under medication and 
C therefore can become delirious and incoherent - Trial judge 
quantified the damages at Rs. 7 lakhs - High Court enhanced 
the amount to Rs. 11 lakhs for loss of future prospects in 
employment, for keeping an attendant and for non-pecuniary 
loss including pain and suffering, loss of limb etc. - Held: 
D Insofar as the quantum of compensation is concerned, the 
three broad heads considered by the High Court for award of 
damages were sufficiently representative of the claim of the 
plaintiff - Precise quantum of compensation that should be 
awarded in any given case cannot and, in fact, need not be 
E determined with mathematical exactitude or arithmetical 
precision - So long the compensation awarded broadly 
represents what could be the entitlement of a claimant in any 
given case the discretion vested in the trial court and the High 
Court ought not to be lightly interfered - On facts, the quantum 
F of damage cannot be said to be either inadequate or 
inappropriate so as to justify. interference. 
The plaintiff-claimant filed suit for damages against 
the defendant hospital trust. The claim of the plaintiff was 
G that he was admitted on 27.10.1988 as an indoor patient 
in the defendant-hospital. He was running high fever and 
was in a delirious state. In the night intervening 31.10.1988 
and 01.11.1·988, the plaintiff's sister who was staying with 
him in the room noticed the absence of the plaintiff from 
H the room. She promptly informed the staff nurse on duty 
ASHISH KUMAR MAZUMDAR v. AISHI RAM BATRA 521 
CHARITABLE HOSPITAL TRUST 
and after search, the plaintiff was found lying on the 
A 
ground floor and at a distance of 50 yards from a point 
immediately below the window of room where he was 
lodged. The plaintiff suffered multiple fracture of lumbar 
vertebrae with complete dislocation of the spinal cord and 
despite treatment he became a paraplegic i.e. 100% 
B 
disabled below ·the waist. 
According to the plaintiff, it was on account of the 
absence of due and reasonable care on the part of the

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