HC declines plea for girl’s maintenance

Cuttack: The Orissa high court has declined to grant compensation for the well-being of a girl born due to alleged negligence while performing a family planning procedure on her mother in a govt hospital 11 years back.
The ruling came in the case of Moti Prava Mohanty of Tangi area in Cuttack district who had given birth to a third girl child after one year of family planning operation at the local PHC in 2012.She filed a petition seeking direction to the state govt to provide suitable compensation not only for their negligence, but also for the future well-being of the child on November 19, 2013.
While disposing of the petition on April 19, a single-judge bench of Justice S K Panigrahi cited a Supreme Court order, which said, “Having gathered the knowledge of conception in spite of having undergone the sterilisation operation, if the couple opts for bearing the child, it ceases to be an unwanted child. Compensation for the maintenance and upbringing of such a child cannot be claimed.”
“In view of the aforesaid and considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, this court is of the opinion that contention of the petitioner has no foundation in law,” Justice Panigrahi said.
However, Justice Panigrahi said, “Considering the poor economic status of the petitioner and the concession given by the state govt, this court deems it appropriate to grant Rs 30,000 in favour of the petitioner as compensation.”
Under the state govt’s present Family Planning Insurance Scheme, the coverage amount has been fixed at Rs 30,000 for failure of sterilisation. Accordingly, Justice Panigrahi directed the state govt to pay Rs 30,000 to the petitioner within a period of two months from the date of presentation of the order before the appropriate authority.
According to the HC order, the family relies on irregular daily wages of both husband and wife, leading to a lot of financial instability. This results in a cycle of poverty, as acknowledged by the issuance of a below poverty line (BPL) card by the govt authority. Further, the petitioner has two children, who are attending school.