For Spoilt Looks, Actor Seeks Rs 1 Crore Damages from Docs: SC Sets up Medical Board to Verify

New Delhi: Was it the medical negligence that spoilt his looks? Three decades on, the Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether a TV actor should be compensated by around a dozen doctors who treated him.

A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay K Kaul has set up a board of specialists in AIIMS to ascertain the claims regarding negligent medical care.

Mrinmoy Dutta moved a writ petition in the top court, seeking damages on account of medical negligence. He also filed an appeal against an order of the National Consumer Commission that had shot down his plea for compensation.

Dutta, who has acted in some Bengali TV serials and movies, appeared in person before the bench and argued himself.

He submitted that it was only because of botched up nasal surgeries and treatments that his facial looks had been affected and his acting career took a hit.

Dutta added he was being treated since 1986 but he has restricted his claim of compensation to the doctors who attended to him since 2005.

He made around a dozen doctors, mostly from Kolkata, parties to his petition and demanded a compensation of more than Rs 1 crore which included interest.

Interestingly, the bench agreed to ascertain whether it was medical negligence that affected his career and thus his fundamental right to earn livelihood.

"To proceed further in the matter, there has to be first a determination as to whether there was any medical negligence, if any, and if so, by whom," said the bench, asking Dutta to make available all the materials since 1986.

The determination, it said, would require expertise in the subject and thus the only way would be to have a Board of doctors of the requisite specialization who would look into the complete material to determine medical negligence, if any.

"We consider it appropriate that a Medical Board should be constituted of the requisite specialists by the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. The board of specialists doctors will examine Dutta and shall submit the report within three months. If the board consider it appropriate to suggest a course of treatment,

that may also form part of the report," directed the court.

Following the order of the court, the AIIMS director has constituted the board.

The bench had asked for the final evaluation report in July to proceed further.