Maru family to file contempt notice as time for relief lapses

Rajesh Maru's (right) parents at their Lalbaug residence

The legal firm Hariani & Co. representing the Maru family is soon going to file a contempt petition in the death case of a Lalbaug resident, Rajesh Maru. Even after over a month post the Bombay High Court (HC) order directing BYL Nair Hospital and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pay the Maru family Rs 10 lakh as compensation, it has not been paid.

Rajesh was killed when he was sucked in by the magnetic waves of an MRI machine in January 2018. Rajesh was visiting an ailing relative at the civic-run hospital. He was allegedly told by a hospital attendant to carry an oxygen cylinder into the MRI room. As soon as he stepped into the room, the magnetic force pulled him in towards the MRI machine. The nozzle of the oxygen cylinder broke and the high amounts of oxygen entering his body as he breathed, killed him.

The Marus got an HC order on September 17 this year, stating that the BYL Nair Hospital and the BMC respectively have to release interim compensation to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in favour of Shyamji Maru (Rajesh's father). It also cited that the amount must come in within six weeks of the order. Maru is required to deposit this amount in a recurring Fixed Deposit (FD) account of a nationalised bank for five years.

Susie Shah, of the non-profit called Stree Shakti Kendra, a family counselling centre with its headquarters at August Kranti Maidan in SoBo is helping the Maru family after they approached her last year. Shah said, "We had sent a legal notice to the BMC and the Nair Hospital through lawyers Hariani & Co. This Rs 10 lakh was interim compensation that the HC ordered. We have asked for overall compensation of more than Rs 1 crore. However, since even this Rs 10 lakh has not come in, we will be filing a contempt petition within a week."

The Nair Hospital Dean, Dr Ramesh Bharmal, claimed that "the order has to be scrutinised by the Legal Department of the civic body. They are evaluating the papers." When told that there was a six-week timeline following that order which has elapsed and not paying the R10 lakh amount is tantamount to contempt, Bharmal stated, "We are following a procedure in line with the Corporation's rules."

The Marus are still awaiting justice for Rajesh's grisly death caused by the alleged negligence of the hospital. The family lives in a 40 sqft stairwell (underneath a staircase) in a Lalbaug building, near the landmark Ganesh Talkies.

6 weeks
Time given by HC to BMC to release compensation

Sept 17
When the HC gave the order

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