Death Due To Mosquito Bite Not An 'Accident', It Won't Be An Insurable Claim Under 'Accident' Insurance: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has observed that a death caused by a mosquito bite wouldn't count as an “accident” and hence, the same wouldn't be covered as an insurable claim under the 'Accident' insurance.

Observing that any disease caused by a mosquito bite can not be termed an accident, the bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya upheld the decision of an Insurance Company which denied its liability on account of the cause of death of the petitioner’s son who died of Dengue.

The bench observed that an accident is an unforeseen event and is unexpected in so far as the person who encounters it did not expect or look for that event to happen, however, in the case of a mosquito bite in a sanitised hospital, it may at best be termed as an unwanted and unwarranted incident, but it is not something which is fortuitous such as to startle the sufferer (the ‘bitten’) 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 Court said.

The case in brief

The petitioner who moved the writ plea before the HC was the mother of one Chayan Mukherjee who was serving in the Indian Army and died on December 20, 2021 in the Command 2 Hospital (Eastern Command), Kolkata.

Mukherjee was essentially admitted to the hospital on November 16, 2021 after developing certain post-surgical complications arising from a knee injury and was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease while undergoing treatment at Command Hospital.

However, on December 12, 2021, Mukherjee developed high-grade fever with chills and was found to be Dengue NS1 Ag positive. He ultimately succumbed to his illness on Decemebr 20, 2021.

The petitioner (Mukherjee's Mother) lodged a claim with respondent no. 4 / United India Insurance Company pursuant to the death of her son, however, the Insurance Company refused the claim as it said that the cause of death of the petitioner’s son was due to Dengue, an illness which is not covered in its policy.

The Petitioner moved the Court wherein her Counse submitted that the primary cause of death was entirely accidental as the Petitioner’s son could not have foreseen that he would be afflicted with Dengue in the Command Hospital.

Further, it was also contended that the death caused by Dengue was not within the control of the petitioner’s son and was the least expected incident of his admission to the Command Hospital.

Court's observations

At the outset, the Court noted that the case of the petitioner’s son must be seen in the factual context of the definition of accident that is to say that Death or Disability must result solely and directly from an accident caused by an external, violent and visible means and the causation must necessarily involve: Accident → death

However, the Court further added that the accident does not include disease and implies the intervention of an external cause which is fortuitous and happens by chance.

"The definition of accidental death includes accidental injuries but excludes illness. The consensus also tilts towards the exclusion of death by disease alone, not accompanied by an accident," the Court said.

Now, against the backdrop of these discussions, the bench of Justice Bhattacharya perused the clinical history of the deceased to note that the direct cause of death was attributed to Dengue hemorrhagic fever as well as the End stage renal disease. 

In view of this, the Court concluded that the death of the petitioner's son cannot be attributed solely to Dengue or seen as the sole and direct contributory factor resulting in the death of the petitioner’s son as the Medical Certificate showed that the direct cause of death was both Dengue and End-stage renal disease IgA Nephropathy.

Further, the Court also perused the terms of the Accident Insurance Policy to note that the coverage specifically included snake bites and high altitude ailment as well as high altitude pulmonary oedema, however, it excluded other forms of insect bites.

The Court also noted that the Insurance Policy made it clear that death caused by a disease won't be covered and only accidental deaths would be covered, however, the Court added, since a bite by a mosquito can not be said to be an accident, the same wouldn't be covered as an insurable claim under the 'Accident' insurance.

Importantly, the Court observed that 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 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...Mosquitoes are also our travel companions these days. They 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 Court remarked.

In this regard, the Court also referred to the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Branch Manager, National Insurance Company Limited v. Mousumi Bhattacharjee; (2019) 5 SCC 391, wherein the top court held that the disease of Encephalitis Malaria through a mosquito bite cannot be considered to be an accident. 

Consequently, terming the death of the petitioner’s son as sad, the Court however, added that 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 Court said as it dismissed the writ plea of the petitioner.

Case title - Chitra Mukherjee vs. Union of India & Ors. [W.P.A 103 of 2023]

Case citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 131

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