When the daughters of the late Mr Purushothaman turned up to collect his body, they were given the remains of another man - AP Kanthy.
But the Ernakulam Medical Centre insisted it was the right person.
It later emerged that their father's body had already been released to Mr Kanthy's family and cremated.
Both men had died within the same 24-hour period.
The women had been caused "mental agony" over not being able to cremate their father, a consumer court said.