Man in vegetative state gets Rs 1.60cr
A city court has awarded Rs 1.60 crore compensation to a 40-year-old businessman who was rendered vegetative following an accident in 2007.
A city court has awarded Rs 1.60 crore compensation to a 40-year-old businessman who was rendered vegetative following an accident in 2007.
The court said a single stroke of rash and negligent driving by someone else, left the victim — Pritam Singh — in a physical state, where he just exists. “The injuries resulting from this accident have pushed him into a permanent vegetative state, snatching all emotions from him, except one — “no-emotion,” Motor Accident Claim Tribunal Judge Kanwaljeet Arora said.
Citing a medical report, he said, “He will continue to suffer till his last breath, as there are no chances of recovery”. Oriental Insurance Company was directed to make payment of the entire sum of compensation, including interest, as soon as possible.
Singh, along with his friends, had gone to visit Sai Baba Shrine at Shirdi in August 2007. After reaching Mumbai, they boarded a Qualis car and started their journey to Shirdi. At 7.30am, a truck hit their car, resulting in multiple injuries to Singh. The court noted that doctors in past four years, have tried their best to improve his medical condition but he has not responded to any medicine. “Physical damage caused by an accident is capable of being quantified in terms of its severity, but its effect on one’s life, cannot be measured by any scale,” the court said.
“Despite providing best possible medical treatment, only his physical being could be saved as he became 100% permanently disabled for rest of his life,” the medical certificate of permanent disability issued to him by the RML Hospital read.
The court noted that several studies and debates across the world had taken place that suggest chances of recovery from “permanent vegetative state” are minimal.