Factual Background 

In the instant matter of Chitra Mukherjee v. Union of India, After her son Chayan Mukherjee passed away at the Command Hospital in Kolkata, the petitioner filed an insurance claim against the United India Insurance Company (Insurance Company). The insurance claim was denied by the insurance company in a letter dated 22-09-2022 because the cause of death was dengue, a condition not covered by the insurance company’s policy. Angered by the insurance company’s decision, the petitioner filed a writ petition with this court, disputing the insurance company’s letter that denied the petitioner’s claim.

Issue 

Whether a person’s death brought on by a mosquito bite qualifies as an “accident”?

Argument Advanced 

According to the petitioner’s kid was completely unaware that he would contract dengue while in the hospital, the petitioner claimed that the major cause of death was an accident. 

The defendant claims that the medical certificate and autopsy report indicate that the current case’s death was caused by renal disease and dengue, not an accident as described by clause 5 of the agreement’s “Accident Insurance” section.

Supreme Court verdict  

In dismissing a writ petition filed to contest the denial of an insurance claim, Calcutta High Court Justice Moushumi Bhattachary ruled that death caused by a mosquito bite cannot be referred to as an “accident” and as such will not be covered as an insurable claim under accident insurance.

The Court observed that the incident implies the involvement of an outside cause, which is accidental and occurring by chance and excludes sickness. The Court ruled that disease is not included in the definition of accidental death, although accidental injuries are. The general agreement tends to rule out death from sickness alone, unaccompanied by an accident. According to the Court, an accident is an occurrence that startles a person when it occurs but does not startle a person when it does not. Accidents are also violent there may be a screech or a thud, and there is typically destruction and loud noise. The writ petition is dismissed because mosquitoes are the silent, sneaky adversaries who carry out their damaging activities unannounced.