When justice extends helping hand: HC turns court fines into lifeline for kidney transplant patients

Nagpur: Arun Shendre and Prajwal Dhongare, both from economically underprivileged families, were searching for financial support after undergoing kidney transplant surgeries. Dumeshwari Bahe, widowed after a construction-site accident and left to raise her seven-year-old daughter alone, was facing a similar crisis. On Saturday, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court stepped in to assist them — and 19 others — through an unusual humanitarian initiative that converted court-imposed penalties into a corpus to aid people in distress.Under the programme led by administrative judge Anil Kilor, the court distributed Rs4.22 lakh among 22 beneficiaries facing severe medical and financial hardship. Shendre and Dhongare received Rs35,000 each to support recovery following kidney transplant procedures, while Bahe was granted Rs51,000 as immediate assistance after the death of her husband.The aid was drawn from a public welfare account created following directions issued in suo motu public interest litigation of 2021. The registry opened the account at Union Bank of India in January this year, and within two months it accumulated more than Rs17 lakh.
Much of the money came from penalties imposed during court proceedings, including fines levied on litigants for filing frivolous cases or wasting the court's time. "Until now, such funds were routinely transferred to the High Court Legal Aid or to the High Court and District Court Bar Associations," registrar Bhushan Kshirsagar said.To ensure transparency, a panel headed by the Nagpur collector and municipal commissioner was formed, with the high court registrar serving as member secretary. The panel reviews requests and supporting documents before recommending assistance."The courts impose costs in many matters — sometimes Rs500 or more — when parties cause unnecessary litigation or repeatedly default," Kshirsagar said. "Instead of letting the funds remain unaccounted, the idea was to ensure the amount reaches people who genuinely need help for medical treatment and other urgent needs."Ten extremely poor patients either recovering from kidney transplants or undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis received Rs35,000 each. They included post-transplant patients Shendre, Lalita Tater, Anup Kujur, Shivam Jaitwar and Mukul Wandile, along with CAPD patients Sarita Baghele, Vahida Sheikh, Santosh Kamble, Jyoti Jaiswal, Sukhdev Meshram and Prajwal Thombre.The court also responded to a media report highlighting the condition of Raju Baburao Isambare, an osteoporosis patient unable to afford treatment. After verifying medical records from GMCH, Nagpur, the bench sanctioned Rs21,000 for his treatment.Nine people unable to afford assistive devices — Naresh Bhosale, Ekramuddin, Nilwant Bante, Vimal Pahune, Vitthal Dethe, Shankar Sonkusre, Indramala Bagade, Rajesh Mele and Balwant Nagtode — were also provided hearing aids worth Rs5,000 each, with payments made directly to the vendor.For many present at the distribution programme, the initiative demonstrated how judicial institutions can occasionally step beyond legal adjudication. On this day, members of the court fraternity said, justice took a quieter form — offering relief and dignity to people confronting hardships far removed from courtroom arguments.