After 17 years, no Rs 10 lakh relief for guest who fell in 5 star hotel bathroom in Goa

MUMBAI: In a legal battle going on for 17 years, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has set aside the Rs 10 lakh compensation awarded to a Cuffe Parade man who suffered injuries after falling in a bathroom of Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa following a poolside party in 2005. The hotel filed an appeal in the national commission in 2012 after the state commission had ordered the compensation.The hotel submitted that the accident did not happen due to its negligence or faulty design of the bathroom, but due to negligence on the part of the complainant and also influence of alcohol which was served at the lunch party before the accident.
Ruling in favour of the hotel, the commission said in the absence of any expert opinion, it cannot be said that the bathroom had defective design. "It is also admitted that a handlebar was fixed in the bathroom to support or help the guest. We are of the opinion that the state commission has erred in concluding that the design of the bathroom was defective," the national commission said.
In the original complaint filed in the state consumer commission in 2007, complainant Vinay Rajpal, then 29, said that his wife and he were staying at the hotel as guests of a person who had invited them for a wedding. They checked in on July 7, 2005. Two days later, the couple attended the poolside lunch party during which alcohol was served. Rajpal had submitted that he did not consume any alcohol. He said that he returned to the room to take a shower. It was submitted that he needed to go down three steps in the bathroom to get to the shower area; he slipped and fell on the second step and suffered injury. After treatment at a local hospital, he was airlifted to Mumbai where he was admitted to a south Mumbai hospital. Rajpal was discharged on Jul 16, 2005. It was alleged that due to injuries, his mouth was kept closed until Jul 19, 2005, and he was unable to perform regular functions for a year. Rajpal moved the commission and sought compensation of Rs 30 lakh. On Jan 21, 2012, the state commission ordered almost Rs 10 lakh in compensation.
Aggrieved, the hotel moved the national commission, arguing that no expert evidence or otherwise was produced by the complainant to support their claim that the bathroom design was defective.
The hotel submitted that the bathroom's plan was approved by the competent authorities and marble used was anti-skid tumble rock, not Egyptian marble as said in the state commission's order. It is further alleged that neither any guest has raised any concern nor has any accident of a similar nature ever occurred in the past in the hotel.