JUDGMENT :

SANJAY KAROL, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. In ordinary circumstances, a procedure concerning appendicitis is considered to be routine. It did not turn out to be so for Jyoti Devi.¹ [Hereafter ‘claimant-appellant’] She was admitted to Suket Hospital, Sundernagar, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh on 28th June 2005 and had her appendicitis removed by Dr. Anil Chauhan, Senior Surgeon, Suket Hospital. Post surgery, she was discharged on 30th June 2005. However, her ordeal did not end there. She suffered continuous pains near the surgical site, as such she was admitted again on 26th July 2005 but was discharged the next day with the assurance that no further pain would be suffered by her. She was further treated by one Dr. L.D. Vaidya of Mandav Hospital, Mandi, on the reference of Dr. Anil Chauhan respondent no. 2 herein. Yet again, there was no end to her suffering. This process continued for a period of four years.

3. The claimant - appellant eventually landed up for treatment at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Chandigarh. Upon investigation, it was found that a 2.5 cm foreign body (needle) “is present below the anterior abdominal wall in the preveside region just medial to pr