The Supreme Court has put a final judicial seal on the liability of doctors and hospitals under consumer protection law, as it dismissed a curative petition challenging its landmark 1995 ruling that had brought medical services within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
The court also underlined the distinct nature of the relationship between medical professionals and patients while declining to disturb the Shantha judgment. The court reasoned that the legal profession had a unique role in the administration of justice and that legal services could not be equated with commercial services rendered by businessmen or traders. The 2024 controversy arose from a May 2024 judgment by a two-judge bench, which held that advocates could not be sued before consumer courts for alleged deficiency in service.
The 1995 ruling had held that medical services rendered for consideration constituted “service” under the consumer law, making doctors and hospitals answerable before consumer fora for deficiencies.
In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated” in the Supreme Court’s 2002 judgment in Rupa Ashok Hurra Vs Ashok Hurra, the bench said, dismissing the plea. The development comes after the apex court had declined in November 2024 to reconsider the Shantha ruling, in a reference triggered by its judgment excluding lawyers from the CPA’s purview. The issue had arisen after a three-judge bench was asked to examine whether the 1995 ruling required reconsideration in light of the court’s decision that legal professionals could not be proceeded against under consumer law for deficiency in service.
A five-judge bench of justices Vikram Nath, BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan dismissed the curative petition filed by Dr Rajeev D Joshi of the Medico Legal Society of India, holding that no case was made out within the parameters laid down for entertaining a curative petition. “We have gone through the curative petition and the relevant documents.
