Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday expressed displeasure after the Western Railway (WR) informed that the Railway Ministry has refused to enhance compensation to Nidhi Jethmalani, a 25-year-old woman left in a vegetative state after being hit by a WR-owned car in 2017. The court had earlier urged the ministry to consider her case sympathetically.
Senior counsel GS Hegde, appearing for WR, told a bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Advait Sethna: “Matter was placed (before the ministry). They are not agreeable to what the court has asked.” The court then directed WR to produce the entire file that was submitted to the Railway Minister. “Produce the file which was submitted,” the court said.
An affidavit was filed by Ashok Kumar Misra, General Manager of WR which annexed a letter by Sunil Kumar, Executive Director (Estt.), Railway Board. The letter recorded that while the minister, after “gracious consideration of the matter with sympathies in the gross facts of the case”, and not treating the case as a precedent, has “not accepted” the court’s request.
The letter also indicated that the Ministry had obtained the opinion of the Ministry of Law and Justice before finalising the decision.
The court noted that in view of the affidavit and communication, it would be appropriate for WR to place the full proposal and ministerial response on record. It had earlier expressed “serious doubt” whether the Railway Minister had been informed at all, calling it “an eminent possibility” that its directions had not been followed.
The case arises from a tragic incident on May 28, 2017, when Nidhi Jethmalani was hit by a WR-owned Innova on Marine Drive while crossing the road near the Marine Plaza hotel. She was on her way to KC College for Class 12 admission.
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) had in 2021 awarded Rs 69.92 lakh along with interest and sanctioned a Rs 1.5 crore corpus for future medical care. WR has challenged the award, arguing contributory negligence, claiming she was on her mobile phone and the pedestrian signal was red.
The court had earlier urged the Railways to approach the matter with humanitarian consideration, citing “day-to-day human suffering.” The court adjourned the matter to May 7 and directed that it be listed on the supplementary board.
