Dental Crown Damaged by Stone in Food: Mumbai District Consumer Commission Rules Against Restaurant

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mumbai (Suburban) has held that a restaurant’s service was deficient after a customer bit into a “stone-like” particle in his meal and suffered damage to a dental crown, directing the hotel to reimburse treatment costs with interest, pay compensation for mental anguish, and meet the complainant’s legal costs.

The order was delivered by Hon’ble Mr. Pradeep G. Kadu (President) and Hon’ble Ms. Gauri M. Kapse (Member), who observed that “the presence of a foreign particle in food served to a customer, which results in injury, amounts to clear deficiency in service within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.”

They further noted that the opposite party’s conduct and admissions “leave no manner of doubt that such an incident occurred and caused damage to the complainant’s dental crown.”

On 28 September 2022 the complainant, Mr Kaushik Lodh, visited Sukh Sagar Hotel, Chowpatty, for lunch.

As per the complainant, a hard particle in the food caused immediate pain and fractured an existing crown; a friend who accompanied him confirmed the event in an affidavit and the restaurant bill produced by Mr Lodh corroborated his presence on that date.

The complainant then attended Sabka Dentist the next day, and the clinic’s certificate recorded damage to the crown and recommended replacement; the clinic estimate for a new crown and associated filling totalled Rs.16,000.

Procedurally, the complaint under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was admitted on 4 January 2023.

The opposite party failed to file its written statement within the prescribed 45-day period and, after the Commission proceeded ex-parte, filed written legal arguments belatedly.

The hotel denied the occurrence but indicated willingness to compensate the complainant by meeting the crown cost (Rs.14,500 as originally tendered), a position the Commission treated as an implicit admission that a foreign particle had been served.

The Commission found the presence of a foreign object in food that causes injury to be a classic instance of deficiency in service under Section 2(11) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

In support of its reasoning it relied on established authorities recognizing the duty of care owed by food service providers (including the Supreme Court’s dictum in Kusum Sharma v. Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre) and on earlier consumer commission decisions which treat the serving of foreign objects, whether accidental or not, as a service deficiency.

The Commission observed that the complainant had proved the link between the meal and the dental injury by contemporaneous medical evidence and witness testimony, while the hotel’s procedural defaults weakened its defence.

On relief the Commission allowed the complaint partly; It directed Sukh Sagar Hotels Pvt. Ltd. to pay Rs.16,000 for dental treatment together with interest at 6% per annum from 1 October 2022 until actual payment; awarded Rs.10,000 as compensation for mental agony and physical harm and further granted Rs.5,000 towards legal expenses.

The panel declined to grant additional relief for later treatments the complainant produced in 2024, holding that the link between those subsequent procedures and the original incident had not been sufficiently established on the record. The hotel was ordered to comply within 45 days of receiving the order.

The bench reinforced that food service providers carry a strict obligation to ensure that meals are free from injurious foreign substances, with liability arising for any resulting harm to a consumer irrespective of whether the negligence was intentional.

Case Title: Kaushik Lodh v. Sukh Sagar Hotels Pvt. Ltd.

Judgment date: 22 July 2025

Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Pradeep G. Kadu (President) and Hon’ble Ms. Gauri M. Kapse (Member)