Thaindian News

New Delhi, Mar 3 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday awarded compensation of Rs.1.82 crore (Rs.18.2 million/$406,000), along with interest, to an Australian tourist who became fully paralysed after slipping in a swimming pool of an India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) hotel here 33 years agao.

While awarding the monetary relief to Susan Leigh Beer, a bench headed by Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed held the hotel management “negligent” and responsible for the poor upkeep of the pool.

“It is clear that it was on account of the defendant, ITDC’s negligence that the floor of the swimming pool was slippery on account of which the injury was sustained by Susan,” said the court

The court said Susan is entitled to the sum of Rs 1.82 crore along with simple interest thereon at the rate of 6 percent per annum with effect from Jan 22, 1982, till the date of the decree.”

Beer, then 17, suffered from quadriplegic paralysis of all four limbs after receiving head and spinal cord injuries during the jump in the swimming pool of Akbar hotel here on the evening of May 5, 1978. She is now wheelchair-bound.

A member of Queensland women’s polo team at that time, she has arrived in India on a holiday tour along with her family.

The compensation include damages on account of physical pain and psychological anguish, loss of education and loss of earnings for the rest of Beer’s life.

The court rejected the plea of ITDC that the victim suffered injuries on account of her own negligence while using the swimming pool.