Supreme Court seeks Army, Air Force response in contempt plea for non-payment of ₹1.6 crore compensation to veteran

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force in a contempt of court case filed against them for not paying an officer ₹1.6 crore in compensation for medical negligence that led to him contracting HIV [CPL Ashish Kumar Chauhan Retd v. Col Sanjay Nijhawan and ors]..A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued notice, returnable on March 4..The Supreme Court had in September 2023 ordered the Indian Air Force (IAF) to pay around ₹1.6 crore in compensation to a veteran who contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during a blood transfusion at a military hospital.The Court had slammed the IAF and the Army for their conduct and held them vicariously liable, both jointly and severally.That verdict had come on an appeal against a judgment of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which had dismissed a plea by the veteran for ₹95.31 crore in compensation for the medical negligence that had led to him being infected by HIV.The officer, Ashish Chauhan, has now filed a plea seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Army and the Air Force for failing to implement the apex court ruling.It was pointed out that no payment has since been extended, including litigation expenses..Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee, appearing for the Armed Forces, stated that a review petition has been filed against the Court's judgment. Thus, he argued that the present matter should be deferred till then.The Bench, however, declined the request."No, no. Union is always at liberty to move court for expeditious disposal of review application before the returnable date," Justice Gavai remarked.The order proceeded to note that the "Pendency of the review petition cannot be a ground to deny the petitioner the benefits of the order passed by this Court."The officer, who appeared in person and through Advocate Vanshaja Shukla, stated that they were only seeking the money made due in the Court's elaborate judgment."Court considered everything. Costs were based on your (Armed Forces') negligence. Correction of costs is not in scope of this contempt petition. You get that (review) listed and heard expeditously within 4 weeks, else we will proceed with contempt. At the most, you can get some observations deleted," Justice Gavai then said..The Bench orally took note of the fact that Shukla, who was an Amicus in the earlier case, has not been paid her honorarium of ₹50,000 yet.It asked its court staff to find out from the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, of which Justice Gavai is Chairperson, why she wasn't paid the same..The case stems from an incident that took place after the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, following which there were heightened tensions at the India-Pakistan border. During operation Parakram in 2002, the veteran fell sick and was admitted to 171 Military Hospital in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba, where one unit of blood was transfused into his body.In 2014, he was diagnosed with HIV. Consequently, he requested information regarding the Personal Occurrence Report (POR) related to his hospitalisation in 2002, and his medical case sheet was provided. Subsequently, in 2014 and 2015, medical boards were convened, and it was eventually determined that his condition was linked to the blood transfusion.Thereafter, the veteran was denied an extension of service and was discharged in May 2016. His application for a disability certificate was also denied on the ground that there was no provision for the same..The Supreme Court noted in its judgment passed last year that superficial attention was paid to the officer during the blood transfusion on several aspects.The Court proceeded to opine that the veteran must be compensated and pegged the amount payable as follows under the following heads:- ₹86.73 lakh for loss of earnings;- ₹50 lakh for mental agony;- ₹18 lakh towards future medical care expenses;- ₹5 lakh for litigation expenses.Further, the IAF and the Army were directed to cooperate with future medical treatment and bear the veteran's travel expenses for bi-monthly checkups..Advocate Vanshaja Shukla has been appointed Amicus Curiae, for the contempt proceedings as well..[Read order]