Holding that the contribution made by a wife or mother to her family is invaluable and cannot be computed in terms of money, the Supreme Court has said that a family deserves adequate compensation in lieu of the loss of gratuitous services rendered by the woman.

The court’s observation came while awarding a compensation of over Rs6 crores to NRI Kunal Saha, whose wife Anuradha died of medical negligence in 1998.

“A wife or mother does not work by the clock. The gratuitous services rendered by her with true love and affection to her children and husband while managing household affairs cannot be equated with the services rendered by others,” the court observed while calculating the compensation. “She teaches small children and provides invaluable guidance for their future. A housekeeper can do the household work but she can never be a substitute for a wife or mother.”

The court also noted how Anuradha suffered immense pain, suffering and mental agony during the 18-day long ordeal because of doctors’ and Kolkata-based AMRI Hospital’s negligence, which has been proved by the claimant.

Setting a precedent for all future medical negligence cases, the court used an approach based on a study by US-based economist Prof John F Burke to calculate the compensation and categorically stated that Anuradha’s premature death will amount to a loss of income of “5 million and 125 thousand dollars”.

The amount was calculated after deducting 1/3rd of the amount for her personal expenses.

“As per the evidence on record, the deceased (Anuradha) was earning $30,000 per annum at the time of her death. According to Burke, the deceased could have earned much more in future given her present prospect,” the court observed. “It would be just and proper for us to take her earning at $40,000 per annum on a regular job. Therefore, estimating the life expectancy of a healthy person in the present age as 70 years, we are inclined to award compensation accordingly by multiplying the total loss of income by 30.”