AHMEDABAD: A consumer court has ordered the Life Insurance Corporation to pay Rs 14.60 lakh for 19 different policies with accidental death benefits by considering the insured person’s murder an accidental death.
In this case, a resident of Vastrapur, Narendrasinh Parmar, was shot dead at point-blank range by unidentified assailants on March 3, 2009 at Sheel Complex in Mithakhali. Navrangpura police filed an FIR but later closed the case as the crime remained undetected on who killed Parmar and why the contractor was shot. The case was controversial with the police suspecting business rivalry behind the murder. However, the murder remained a mystery with the cops filing A-summary report.
Parmar’s widow, Chetna, claimed the insurance payout for 19 different life insurance policies with accidental benefits that Parmar had. The claim was rejected on the ground that Parmar was murdered and died from a bullet wound and not in an accident.
In 2012, Chetna approached the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Ahmedabad (Additional) but the forum rejected her complaint saying that this was murder simpliciter and cannot be considered an accidental death. The dispute reached the Gujarat State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, which ordered the insurer to pay the claims holding that Parmar was not a party to the murder and was not instrumental in provocation and the immediate cause of action was not a result of a deliberate act by the insured.
The consumer commission also said that there is the possibility that the unknown assailants did not want to murder Parmar because the firing had taken place from behind and the unknown assailant could not have identified him. Moreover, there is no evidence on record to show that the assailant intended to murder Parmar only.
The commission also said that the victim had not played an active role in the incident and nor did his activities lead to the crime. It further said that the victim had no idea or expectation of such an unwarranted event. The commission concluded that no evidence was brought on record to establish that it was a murder, and therefore it should be treated as an accidental death so far as life insurance is concerned.
