MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to pay an interim compensation of Rs 75,000 to the parents of an infant girl whose left thumb was accidentally sliced off by a staff nurse at Government Raja Mirasudhar Hospital in Thanjavur recently.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh gave the direction on a petition filed by the child's father M Ganesan. The judge observed, "Parents of a new born child being made to helplessly watch the severed thumb of their child lying on the floor, and the child writhing in pain is such a horrifying experience which could have caused so much of pain and mental agony to them."
In cases of this nature, the court has to apply strict liability theory (Rylands v Fletcher case), he opined. "The incident taken as such prima facie (on first impression) shows that there is negligence. Hence some interim compensation has to be paid by the government to the child's parents," he expressed and gave the above direction.
Since the petitioner's counsel submitted that the operation conducted to suture the severed thumb back to the baby's hand ended in failure, Justice Venkatesh directed the government to take steps to shift the baby to a multi-specialty hospital for suitable treatment to ensure that the child does not suffer permanent loss of the thumb.
As the government counsel submitted that an inquiry is being conducted into the incident, and that the government is also considering to pay compensation to the petitioner, the judge sought a counter affidavit and adjourned the case to July 26.