Dengue death due to mosquito bite not 'accident' to allow accident insurance claim: Calcutta High Court

Mosquitos are the silent insidious enemies which are present everywhere across India and, therefore, a mosquito bite cannot be termed an 'accident' for claiming compensation under an accident insurance policy, the Calcutta High Court recently held [Chitra Mukherjee vs Union of India]..Single-judge Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya dismissed the plea filed by the mother of a serving army man, who died at a hospital on December 20, 2021 after contracting Dengue. It dismissed the contention that since the deceased was bitten by a mosquito, it would come within the ambit of an 'accident' and thus, the insurance company was liable to compensate."The reality of living in a tropical country like India is to take in one’s stride, extreme summers, heavy monsoons, the weight of population - and the buzz of mosquitoes. Complaints aside, mosquitoes and mosquito repellents are our unwelcome companions for life and a (residential) hazard to life in India," Justice Bhattacharya bemoaned in the order passed on May 10.The judge referred to the data of National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control, which indicated that there were 5,166 Dengue cases in 2020 and 8,264 in 2021 in West Bengal. The data shows that there were a total of 1,93,245 dengue cases and 346 dengue deaths in India in 2021. Specialised data in relation to Dengue shows that India features as one of the countries in the risk zone and Dengue is the 46th leading cause of death in the country, the judge noted.Mosquitoes are also our travel companions these days, the judge highlighted."Mosquitoes are found in flights where one least expects them to fly to undisclosed destinations. It is arguable if a person claims aviation insurance on the plea of having booked tickets to travel to the planned destination and not contract Malaria in the bargain. The (buzz) word is that Mosquitoes are simply everywhere – in pools, parks, movie theatres and convention centres – pests! Perhaps the time has finally come to use cannons to kill mosquitoes," the judgment said in a lighter vein.Therefore, suffering a mosquito bite in the sanitised confines of a hospital may be an unwanted and unwarranted incident at best; it is not something which is fortuitous such as to startle the sufferer as being unexpected. "After all, an accident is an event which startles a person when it takes place but does not startle one when it does not take place. There is also a violence attached to accidents – a screech, a thud, usually destruction accompanied by high-level noise. Mosquitoes, on the other hand, are the silent, insidious enemies who go about their harmful business unnoticed," the bench held..The death of the petitioner’s son, undoubtedly is sad, the Court said while expressing its pain and anguish. "However, the insurance policy and the precedents on the subject do not permit interpreting any disease caused by a mosquito bite as an accident. It is neither fortuitous nor unexpected and is entirely country / city-specific. The impugned refusal on the part of the Insurance Company to admit liability in the particular policy hence cannot be seen as arbitrary or unreasonable," the judge held.With these observations, the bench dismissed the plea..Advocates Rahul Karmakar, Jibantaraj Das Roy, Rittick Chowdhury and Champa Pal appeared for the Petitioner.Advocates Sukumar Bhattacharyya and Somnath Adhikari represented Union of India.Advocate Guddu Singh appeared for the Insurance Company..[Read Judgment]