NDLI: The Branch Manager National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Smt. Mousumi Bhattacharjee & Ors.

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Consumer Protection Act Cover against accident Insurance policy claim Deficiency of service 1986 died due to multi-organ failure neither unexpected nor unforeseen
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Act(s) Referred	Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (68 of 1986)
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Appeal Allowed
Headnote	Consumer Protection Act, 1986 – Insurance policy claim – Deficiency of service – Whether death due to malaria occasioned by a mosquito bite in Mozambique constituted a death due to accident – Insurance policy – Cover against accident – The insured was working in Assam and thereafter took employment in Mozambique where he was diagnosed with encephalitis malaria and died due to multi-organ failure – Claim filed by spouse and father of the deceased – Plea of insurer was that death due to malaria caused by a mosquito bite was a result of an infection or disease and was not an accidental death under the terms of insurance policy – All the Forums allowed the claim holding that the death was caused due to accident – On appeal, held: To be bitten by a mosquito and be imbued with a malarial parasite does involve an element of chance – But the disease which is caused as a result of the insect bite in the natural course of events cannot be regarded as an accident – Malaria is most commonly transmitted to humans through malaria virus infested mosquito bites, and when a virus is contracted through normal means brought about by everyday life, it cannot be deemed to be an unexpected or unforeseen accident – In a policy of insurance which covers death due to accident, the peril insured against is an accident: an untoward happening or occurrence which is unforeseen and unexpected in the normal course of human events – The death of the insured in the instant case was caused by encephalitis malaria – The insured was based in Mozambique – According to the World Health Organization’s World Malaria Report 2018, Mozambique, with a population of 29.6 million people, accounted for 5% of cases of malaria globally – One out of three people in Mozambique is afflicted with malaria – In light of these statistics, the illness of encephalitis malaria through a mosquito bite cannot be considered as an accident – It was neither unexpected nor unforeseen – It was not a peril insured against in the policy of accident insurance – The interpretation placed on the terms of the insurance policy by the Forums below was manifestly incorrect.
Judge	Hon'ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
Neutral Citation	2019 INSC 403
Petitioner	The Branch Manager National Insurance Co. Ltd.
Respondent	Smt. Mousumi Bhattacharjee & Ors.
SCR	[2019] 5 S.C.R. 46
Judgement Date	2019-03-26
Case Number	2614

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
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8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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