HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court responded to a petition filed by a city resident who suffered a head injury when an iron rod fell on her at a Metro Rail station in 2017. She is seeking compensation of Rs 1.7 crore from Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited, L&T and the municipal department, stating that their negligence had caused the injury.
Justice Tadakamalla Vinod Kumar asked all the respondents to submit their stand on the petition.
Uzma Hafeez, a resident of Rein Bazaar, a nutritionist and dealer of nutrition products, said that she was paying a heavy price for the recklessness of civic authorities. She submitted that her family, including five children, had been in a financial crisis since the incident.
The incident occurred when Uzma Hafeez was travelling with her husband on March 11, 2017, on a two-wheeler from their home to the office. When they were near the Nampally Metro Rail station, where work was underway, a heavy iron rod utilised for shifting railway tracks fell directly on her head and pierced her skull. She fell unconscious and was taken to hospital.
She said she was suffering from seizures, short-term memory loss, walking imbalance, hazy vision and partial hearing as a result of eardrum perforation and other health ailments following the incident.
Nampally police registered a case under Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC against L&T, which holds the construction contract of Metro Rail.
When she approached consumer forum for compensation, which rejected her application on the ground that she could not be treated as a Metro Rail consumer or customer.
She approached the High Court, which in turn asked the stand of the respondents and adjourned the case to October 13.
