The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Indian Army and Indian Air Force on a contempt petition filed by a retired air veteran who was awarded a compensation of over ₹1.5 crore by the top court last year for contracting AIDS after a blood transfusion at a military hospital during the 2002 Operation Parakram.

Issuing a notice to the defence forces, a bench of justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta turned down the request by the Air Force to defer a hearing on the contempt plea as a review petition against the September 30 order was pending before the top court.

Additional solicitor general Vikramajeet Banerjee requested the court to hear the contempt petition after a decision on the review petition. “You get it listed and heard expeditiously in four weeks, or else we will proceed with this matter,” the court said, adjourning the matter by four weeks.

Advocate Vanshaja Shukla appeared as amicus curiae and said the petitioner has not received money towards medical or litigation costs. The court noted that Shukla, who assisted the court for passing an order on grant of compensation, had not been paid the honorarium of ₹50,000 for her assistance.

The officer, retired corporal Ashish Kumar Chauhan, joined the air force in May 1996. The unfortunate blood transfusion episode took place in July 2002 during Operation Parakram, when India mobilised troops at the India-Pakistan border following an attack on Parliament. Due to a sudden illness, Chauhan was hospitalised at a military hospital in Jammu. One unit of blood was administered to him without consent.

In March 2014, he was admitted for treatment of pneumonia. Interestingly, the military hospital at Ahmedabad found HIV to be negative. As the problem persisted, he was admitted at Indian Naval Hospital at Mumbai in May 2014, where tests revealed that he is HIV+. The medical board found he contracted infection during the blood transfusion received in July 2002.

The top court’s decision in September catered to the mental, physical, emotional and financial loss suffered by petitioner, who was removed from service due to his medical condition. He suffered personal stigma as well leading up to his divorce.

“People sign up to join the armed forces with considerable enthusiasm and sense of patriotic duty...to put their lives on the line and be prepared for the ultimate sacrifice of their lives,” the court had said while awarding him compensation of ₹15,473,000 on account of medical negligence of the army and air force. A corresponding duty is cast on all state functionaries, including echelons of power within the armed forces, to ensure that the highest standard of safety, which is physical and mental well-being, is maintained, it had said.

The air force was directed to pay the amount within six weeks and release all arrears of disability pension to the petitioner. The court held both the army and air force to be jointly and separately “vicariously liable” and left it open to the air force to seek reimbursement of up to half the compensation amount from the Indian Army.

In 2016, Chauhan was discharged from service and a year later, he filed a complaint before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, claiming ₹95 crore from the air force. The commission dismissed his petition in August 2021 as the military hospital at Jammu where he was given blood was not an authorised blood bank. Even after getting discharge from the air force, when the petitioner sought to take up employment with a government organisation, he was rejected owing to his medical condition.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-issues-notice-to-iaf-army-over-non-payment-of-1-5-crore-relief-to-veteran-101706556251979.html