The perfect haircut can ‘transform’ your life — dramatically enhancing features and boosting confidence levels. And a “faulty” turn of the scissors can apparently turn into a multi-crore mistake for the hair salon, devolving into years of litigation and eventually reaching the Supreme Court of India. The apex court delivered its verdict in a bizarre case earlier this month — awarding Rs 25 lakh compensation to a model over an unfortunate haircut.
The Delhi woman was first awarded Rs 2 crore as compensation by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in 2021. She had been a model for hair products (with long tresses) and lost expected assignments after being given the wrong haircut.
According to an older Indian Express report, she was left “with little or almost no hair” following a visit to Hotel ITC Maurya in 2018. The NCDRC order also noted that her hair had been cut “against her instructions” by the salon — adding that she “underwent severe mental breakdown and trauma” due to the incident and even lost her primary job as a senior management professional.
Supreme Court awards Rs 25 lakh compensation
The case came to the fore yet again this week as the Supreme Court slashed the compensation amount to Rs 25 lakh. A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan opined that damages cannot be awarded merely on the “whims and fancies” of the complainant while hearing an appeal filed by ITC Limited.
“The damages cannot be awarded merely on presumptions or whims and fancies of the complainant. To make out a case for award of damages, especially when the claim is to the tune of crores of rupees, some trustworthy and reliable evidence has to be led. In our view, on the basis of photocopies of the documents placed on record by the respondent, the Commission has committed an error in awarding a huge amount of compensation of Rs 2,00,00,000/-, which in our view cannot be justified,” read an excerpt from the judgement.
Complaint sought Rs 5.2 crore compensation
According to an Indian Express report, the woman had initially shared a claim for Rs 3 crore. The claim of compensation was increased to Rs 5.20 crore after the afterr the matter was remitted back to the Commission.
“After remand, the respondent enhanced her claim from Rs 2,00,00,000 to Rs 5,20,00,000 and produced certain documents on record before the Commission to substantiate her claim. The Commission, after consideration of the material produced on record by the parties, again awarded Rs 2,00,00,000 as compensation to the respondent along with interest at 9% per annum from the date of filing of the complaint till payment is made,” the SC judgement outlines.