NEW DELHI, DEC 22: A US-based Indian doctor, who has claimed Rs 77 crore in damages for the death of his wife allegedly due to maltreatment in a Calcutta nursing home, today moved the Delhi High Court against the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC), accusing it of not taking any action to hear his compensation plea.Besides the nursing home, Dr Kunal Saha had named over a dozen doctors and its directors as respondents.Justice K Ramamoorthy fixed hearing on January 21 to decide whether the petition seeking direction to NCDRC for deciding the case ex-parte was maintainable or not.Dr Saha, presently engaged in the study of AIDS and HIV in US, in his petition filed through counsel Avik Dutta has sought direction to NCDRC to proceed ex-parte in the matter for its "failure" to get any response from the nursing home and doctors in Calcutta.Dr Saha alleged that NCDRC has "offended the due process of law" and the Consumer Protection Act in refusing to fix an early hearing of the petition.The Commission had various modes available to serve the notices on respondent nursing home and doctors who were even aware of filing of the compensation plea before the NCDRC, the petition said.Dr Saha, in his compensation plea before NCDRC, alleged that his wife Anuradha died on May 28, 1998, after she fell ill during a visit to the city and was given "wrong treatment" by a local nursing home and its doctors.
