Mallakkara Kamalakshi, who is celebrating her 75th birthday today, has been navigating a challenging journey towards justice as her vision dims. In 1995, when she was 47, her left eye was tragically lost due to medical negligence during a cataract surgery at the Kasaragod District Hospital. The aftermath of this incident has been marked by legal battles and bureaucratic delays, showcasing a disheartening saga of seeking compensation.
The legal odyssey began when the Hosdurg subordinate court in Kanhangad ordered the Kerala government to compensate her with Rs 2.30 lakh. However, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government has been resisting this verdict for years, leading to prolonged anguish for Kamalakshi.
Remarkably, it took 24 years for the sub-court to issue its ruling in 2018, and the subsequent legal wrangling has dragged on. The LDF government’s appeal against the compensation order in the Kerala High Court took another two years, with the High Court eventually dismissing the appeal in January 2023.
Rather than fulfilling the compensation, the government’s approach has taken an unusual twist. They offered a Tata Spacio vehicle belonging to the Health Department to be sold to recover the owed amount. Unfortunately, this vehicle, now 19 years old and no longer eligible for re-registration under new vehicle policies, is a questionable asset for compensating Kamalakshi’s loss.
Advocate Manoj Kumar K, representing Kamalakshi, stated, “I don’t think the car will fetch the money required to compensate Kamalakshi, if at all there are any takers for it.” In case this proves true, he plans to request the court to seize the tehsildar’s car instead.
The outstanding amount the government owes Kamalakshi, calculated with interest until March of the present year, is Rs 7.44 lakh. Despite the court’s directive and her advocate’s efforts, Kamalakshi’s wait for justice has extended over almost three decades, a period encompassing seven governments and five chief ministers in Kerala.
Her story is one of persistence in the face of adversity, a pursuit of justice that has spanned a substantial portion of her life.
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