The Court was hearing a petition filed by the woman, one Vasuki, seeking a compensation to of ₹25 lakh from the State.
She told the Court that she was a housewife and her husband was an agricultural coolie. The couple already had two children and, therefore, in 2014, she underwent the sterilization surgery at the Tuticorin government hospital.
However, she conceived again in 2015. The doctors at the hospital advised her to abort the “unwanted” foetus but the couple decided against it.
The woman approached Court saying she did not have enough money to raise a third child. She said that since the tubectomy was unsuccessful, the respondent hospital and the concerned doctor were vicariously and jointly liable for the lapses.
The State government argued that the woman had probably failed to follow the doctors’ advice and the prescriptions following the surgery.
Besides, the State argued that “there was no element of tort involved nor had the petitioner suffered any loss, which could be compensated.”
Source: Barandbench
