KUALA LUMPUR: A 41-year-man who lost the use of his right arm in a road accident four years ago, has been granted damages of RM3.9mil, believed to be the first of its kind in compensation by a court, as costs for a robotic arm.

       Taiping High Court Judicial Commissioner K. Muniandy in his judgment yesterday took the novel step of awarding Mohd Sidik Muhammad Ketar with the cost of an orthosis – a robotic arm brace – which stood at RM3,977,160.

       In his ruling, JC Muniandy said the Sessions Court judge who rejected Mohd Sidik’s claims on the orthosis had fallen into an error when her dominant consideration on the costs of the device was that it involved a “large amount of money”.

       The High Court judge said when awarding a compensatory award, the plaintiff was entitled to the best because the purpose of compensation was to put the plaintiff, as the victim, in as near position as he was before the incident happened.

       “In the present case, the myoelectric electric-powered orthosis and rechargeable batteries would certainly help the plaintiff lead a more normal life and he certainly ought to be given a chance to use it,” he said during a Zoom proceeding here.

       Mohd Sidik, who was riding a motorcycle, was involved in an accident with a car driven by Zainal Hazril Zainal Mokhtar, 27, on Aug 21, 2017.

       He filed a lawsuit at the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court against Zainal Hazril as the first defendant and Zainal Hazril’s father Zainal Mokhtar Zainal Abidin, 66, as the second defendant.

       Zainal Mokhtar was sued in his capacity as the registered owner of the car.

       In the proceeding, Mohd Sidik was represented by lawyers GK Ganesan and RS Kameswary while the defendants were represented by lawyer Nor Asikin Ideris.

       In his statement of claim, Mohd Sidik said the first defendant had encroached into his lane and thus caused a collision.

       As a result, Mohd Sidik, who is an employee with Risda, sustained severe injuries to his right arm including a brachial plexus injury.

       The plaintiff sought general and special damages including the cost of using a special device to assist him in using his right arm known as an ‘orthosis’ (MyoPro Orthosis).

       Zainal Hazril and Zainal Mokhtar, in their defence, claimed that Mohd Sidik, too, encroached into his right of way.

       Thereafter, both parties agreed on liability and recorded it on a 50-50 basis.

       On Jan 8, last year, the Sessions court awarded Mohd Sidik with a total of RM192,100 (RM185,000 in general damages and RM7,100 in special damages) but rejected claims on the orthosis on grounds that it was “too expensive”.

       Mohd Sidik then filed an appeal on the quantum of damages at the Taiping High Court on Jan 16, 2020.

       Kameswary, when contacted, said that the award was believed to be the first of its kind involving the use of an orthosis.