On behalf of the family of 14-year-old Rida Shaikh, Advani partner Asif Lampwala filed a Delhi Consumer's Forum complaint against the Jehangir Hospital and Ruby Hall Clinic for Rs 5 crore in damages.

The firm had received the instruction to represent the family through a personal referral.

Lampwala has also filed a criminal complaint against the hospital and doctors and a complaint to the medical counsel.

He said that the first consumer forum deadline had lapsed already without response from the hospital. "We sent them a notice on Thursday and gave them 48 hours' notice but they haven't replied yet."

The family is claiming that the hospitals and doctors caused Shaikh's death by negligence (section 304A of the Indian Penal Code) after a throat swab at Jehangir Hospital showed that Shaikh had not contracted the H1N1 virus.

The samples had been sent for testing to Ruby Hall Clinic but were returned negative.

She died on 3 August, with the H1N1 infection having only been confirmed by the National Institute of Virology on 31 July. She was first admitted to hospital on 27 July.

Mumbai firm Advani & Company deals in corporate, arbitration and litigation work.