SC declines to review order to pay Rs 1.54 Cr compensation to ex Air Force staff for transfusion of HIV infected blood

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has declined to relook its order  awarding a compensation of over Rs 1.54 crore to a veteran of Air Force on account of medical negligence due to transfusion of HIV infected blood after he fell sick during 'Operation Parakram' in 2002 at Jammu and Kashmir. 

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Prasanna B Varale dismissed a review petition filed by the Commanding Officer and others against the judgment of September 26, 2023.

"The judgment and order under review does not suffer from any error, much less apparent error, warranting its reconsideration. That apart, no other sufficient ground has been set up for granting the relief claimed in the review petition," the bench said in its order passed on April 3.

In its previous judgment, the court had held Air Force and Indian Army vicariously liable for medical negligence by allowing petitioner's appeal against the order by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which had rejected his complaint.

The court had then said the people sign up to join armed forces with considerable enthusiasm and a sense of patriotic duty, but in the instant case the fundamental principles of dignity, honor, and compassion were glaringly absent in the respondents' behavior. 

"This entails a conscious decision to put their lives on the line and be prepared for the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. A corresponding duty is cast on all state functionaries including echelons of power within the armed forces to ensure that the highest standards of safety which is physical, and mental well-being as well as wellness is maintained," it said. 

Years after his treatment, he was diagnosed with HIV in 2014 after he fell ill.

On the basis of his hospitalisation record of 2002, Medical Boards were held in 2014 and 2015 in which his disability was found as attributable to service due to the transfusion of one unit of blood in July 2002.

He was discharged from service in 2016. His request for extension of service or grant of disability certificate was also declined.

Looking into records showing medical negligence, the bench said no amount of compensation can fully heal the wounds inflicted by such behavior. 

“Although this court has attempted to give tangible relief at the end of the day, it realises that no amount of compensation and monetary terms can undo the harm caused by such behavior which has shaken the foundation of the appellant’s dignity, robbed him of honor and rendered him not only desperate but cynical,” the bench had then said.