[BITList] Indian Justice?

[John Feltham]

http://thurly.net/112v



An Australian woman has been awarded more than $1 million in damages, the highest compensation payout by an Indian court, 33 years after she was rendered a quadraplegic by slipping on the slimy surface of a New Delhi hotel pool.

Former water polo player Queenslander Susan Leigh Beer suffered head and spinal injuries as a 17-year-old when she slipped on the algae-coated floor of the government-owned Akbar Hotel swimming pool in the Indian capital and hit her head.

In awarding record damages, Delhi High Court judge Badar Durrez Ahmed rejected the argument of the Indian Tourism Development Corporation, which operated the hotel, that Ms Beer suffered injuries as a result of her own negligence.

He condemned the hotel's "insensitivity" in arguing she was not physically incapacitated as a result of the accident.

Ms Beer said yesterday: "It's been a frustrating, difficult and long struggle for us all. Let us pray this will be the end of this nightmare."

Ms Beer's compensation claim for 20 million rupees ($438,700) was first lodged in 1982 but has been tied up since in legal and medical arguments, and endless appeals.

The court finally ordered a total of 49 million rupees be paid.




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