Saif Ali Khan stabbing case sparks controversy over Rs 36 lakh insurance payout, medical consultants raise questions

The stabbing case of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan is changing shapes and forms as the days go by.

While it spelled a case of heroism for the actor and Bhajan Lal Singh Rana, the auto-rickshaw driver, who took the actor to the hospital, it seems to be snowballing into a controversy as the Association of Medical Consultants Mumbai has now stepped into the matter raising important questions with regards to the insurance claim disbursement procedure.

Association of Medical Consultants Mumbai has written to the The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) raising doubts over the quick approval of claims as it involves an influential celebrity. The body has asked the IRDAI as to why preferential treatment was given to Saif Ali Khan.

The letter states that the Insurance company Niva Bupa sanctioned Rs 25 lacs within a few hours to Lilavati hospital for the treatment of Saif Ali Khan. Health insurance expert, Nikhil Jha took to his X, formerly Twitter, and shared the letter sent by the Medical Consultants Mumbai. He wrote, “The normal process is to ask for an FIR copy in medicolegal cases.

The insurance company waived off this requirement and immediately approved the cashless request for Rs 25 lacs. The final bill apparently Rs 36 lacs which was also approved.

The surgery and stay for 4 days does not justify the huge bill and the prompt approval”. He further mentioned, “If this was any normal person The company would have applied reasonable and customary charges and not paid the claim IRDAI should answer why Niva Bupa gave preferential treatment to a celebrity and made it hard for normal people to get a claim?”.

The actor was stabbed multiple times in an attempt to fight off a burglar during the wee hours of Thursday. The actor sustained six stab wounds, two of which are said to be serious as they are closer to his spine.

The incident took place at 2:15 am when the burglar allegedly barged into their Bandra home, and attacked their house help and then Saif when he intervened. Saif was woken up by the commotion in his son Jeh’s room.

He went inside the room to see the culprit arguing with their house help, looking at this, Saif intervened to save the house help with bare hands to fight off the intruder. The Mumbai police has arrested an allegedly a Bangladeshi national with regards to the case, and are following the procedure of the investigation currently.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from IANS)