SMT. NOORJAN SAMSHUDDIN BHANVADIYA AND ORS. vs THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

bipin prithiani 1 wp-6921.17.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 6921 OF 2017 Smt. Noorjan Samshuddin Bhanvadiya & Ors. … Petitioners Versus The State of Maharashtra & Ors. … Respondents ****** Ms. Vrushali L. Maindad a/w Ms. Manali P. Sawant and Ms. Akshada C. Mundhe for Petitioners. Mr. N. C. Walimbe, Addl. G. P., a/w Mrs. Tanu N. Bhatia, AGP for Respondents-State. Mr. Mayur Khandeparkar, Amicus Curiae, a/w Mr. Raghav Dharmadhikari. ****** CORAM : MANISH PITALE AND SHREERAM V. SHIRSAT, JJ. RESERVED ON : 25th MARCH 2026 PRONOUNCED ON : 8th JUNE 2026 Judgment (Per Manish Pitale, J.) : . A widow and two children of a deceased are petitioners in this petition, seeking compensation from the respondents i.e. the State and its officers, as the deceased, being the husband of the petitioner No.1 died while in the care and custody of the Yerwada Mental Hospital (a State Government run facility), due to a violent attack launched by another patient in the said hospital. According to the petitioners, the State is liable to pay monetary compensation to them as the aforesaid incident would not have occurred, but for the gross negligence exhibited by the State and its officers, while bipin prithiani 2 wp-6921.17.doc the deceased was in their custody as an inpatient in the Yerwada Mental Hospital. 2. The deceased husband of petitioner No.1 was a real estate agent and he was running his business from an establishment, which was duly licensed under the Shops and Establishment Act, 1948. He was suffering from bouts of schizophrenia, due to which he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Pune. Thereafter, he was admitted at the Yerwada Mental Hospital, as per medical advice. The petitioner No.1 was informed that her husband would