Supreme Court Settles 7-Year-Old 'Bad' Haircut Row, Reduces Compensation From Rs 2 Crore To Rs 25 Lakh Citing Lack Of Evidence

New Delhi: A seven year old dispute over a haircut at a five-star hotel came recently to end with a Supreme Court ruling, which reduced a Rs 2-crore compensation awarded to a model over an allegedly spoilt haircut, observing that her claims of career damage and monetary loss, were not supported by reliable evidence.

A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan modified an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), limiting the compensation payable to Aashna Roy to Rs 25 lakh, an amount already released to her as per earlier court directions. Roy had failed to provide required evidence to support her case, the Bench ruled.

“Claim of compensation was for crores of rupees, for which some loss suffered by the respondent because of deficiency in service was required to be established. This could not be established by merely producing photocopies of the documents," the Bench said in its ruling.

"Even the discrepancies in the photocopies produced on record by the respondent, as pointed out by the appellant, have been noticed above. Thus, even after remand, respondent has not been able to make out a case for award of such huge compensation,” it added.

The case dates back to April 12, 2018, when Aashna Roy visited the salon at ITC Maurya in New Delhi for a haircut. Alleging that the service was badly done, and it affected her appearance, confidence, and professional prospects, she approached the NCDRC with complaints of negligence and deficiency in service.

In September 2021, the commission held the hotel guilty and settled the case by declaring a Rs 2 crore compensation to Roy. In February 2023,the Supreme Court remitted the matter back to the NCDRC for a fresh determination of compensation, while declining to interfere with the finding of deficiency.

After the remand, Roy enhanced her compensation claim to Rs 5.2 crore. According to reports, she produced photocopies of emails, certificates, and other documents to support her case which alleged she had lost modelling assignments, employment opportunities due to the badly-done haircut, and the negative impact it had on her. This time, the NCDRC, awarded Rs 2 crore with an interest at 9 per cent per annum, prompting ITC Limited to approach the apex court.

The Supreme Court found significant flaws in the commission’s approach to assessing the alleged damages. The Bench observed that most of the documents relied upon were unverified photocopies.

In its judgment released on Saturday (February 7), the bench rejected the NCDRC’s reasoning that reliance on photocopies was justified on the ground that the complainant may not have preserved originals due to trauma. 
The court pointed out that several documents relied upon were either dated prior to the haircut or subsequent to it. Thus, they did not demonstrate any direct link between the alleged deficiency in service and loss of professional opportunities.

While restricting the compensation to Rs 25 lakh, the Supreme Court also upheld the concurrent finding of deficiency in service alleged against the hotel.

Also read: Kerala University: SFI Protestors Clash With Police, Enter Campus Over Youth Festival Funds