Chennai: Glancing up from the heap of case papers on the table before her, Justice S. Vimala caught a glimpse of a wheelchair-bound litigant in her court hall. What followed was yet another episode of the humane judge stepping beyond the law books and case studies to raise her hand to lift the shambled life of Murugan of Arani.
The 57-year-old paraplegic would not have dreamt he would be this lucky even in the midst of all his misery lasting these last 14 years after being crippled in a road mishap involving a government bus. Noting that his life was confined to just that wheelchair and he was entirely dependent on his 26-year-old son, who had himself sacrificed his own happiness to take care of him, Justice Vimala ordered enhancement of the compensation to Rs.14 lakh from the Rs.5.06 lakh ordered by the lower court six years ago.
The judge could have remanded the case back to the lower court for reconsideration - which is the usual practice in such cases. Instead, she chose to settle the man's misery then and there. "Remanding the case would have taken the case another decade and the poor man would be shattered even more. The judge decided she would play the kind soul, yet again", said a lawyer who has been following the case closely.
In her order pronounced on Wednesday, Justice Vimala said, "Since the claim is pending from 18.10.2003, this court is not inclined to remand the matter. Fortunately, the claimant was present before this court and the doctor attached to the court was willing to assist the court in arriving at the nature of disablement.
The evidence was recorded with regard to the nature of treatment and the nature of disablement".
Murugan's lawyer is an intelligent man. Having observed the manner in which Justice Vimala has been dealing with such cases with sensitivity and humaneness, he decided to bring his client in his wheelchair, and the young son 'wasting' his life. "No, it was not to dramatise the situation or to unfairly draw the court's sympathy. It's just to let the judge see the facts of the case rather than just go by the appeal papers", said the lawyer quoted earlier.
Again, the judge could have gone by the 'disability certificate' issued by the doctor at the time of accident, which had said it was not permanent disablement and there was no scope for enhancement of the lower court's compensation. Instead, she chose to get the court doctor to examine the man and upon his opinion on the serious spinal injuries, she noted in her order how Murugan had been going from hospital to hospital and is now "only having the life of a living death".
Murugan was a young and happy mason / contractor with wife and son when the government bus hit him. The accident rendered him paraplegic and the wife left him. The miserable man would have been shattered but for his doting son. Now the kind judge's order granting enhanced relief must bring some cheer to those dried faces.
