Stating that the incident was intentional and hence did not fall under “personal accidental death” coverage, the Chandigarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently overturned an award of Rs 10 lakh insurance claim to a woman whose husband allegedly shot himself while holding the revolver in a “filmy style”.

The bench of H P S Mahal (judicial member) and Kiran Sibal (member) was hearing a plea filed by a woman whose husband allegedly shot himself on the same day after purchasing an individual personal accidental policy of Rs 10 lakh from an insurance company.

“In the present case, the version of the complainant that the insured was rotating the revolver in a filmy style and he accidentally shot himself, is not convincing for the reason that the insured not only placed the revolver on the temporal of his face but also took it from his friend’s custody and went to attend to nature‘s call,” the May 15 order read.

Advocates Hritik Sharma and Vishak Bharadwaj, appearing for the insurance company, argued that the district commission overlooked the fact that the company took a specific plea that it was a case of suicide, where the deceased had bought an insurance policy on May 16, 2016, and killed himself on the same day.

It was submitted that the incident was investigated by an independent investigator, and according to his report, the deceased was upset over the problems being faced by her daughter in her marital home.

The counsel urged that the district commission did not take notice of the fact that the insurance company had appointed a forensic analyst, who had given a clear report that it was not a case of accidental firing but one of suicide.

It was further argued that even if it was presumed that it was not a case of suicide, even then, it is definitely a case of self-inflicted injury, and hence, no claim was payable under the said policy

Advocate Nitish Grag, representing the wife, contended that the district commission had rightly observed that the insurance company had appointed an investigating agency, which investigated the matter and submitted its report on June 22, 2017.

It was further submitted that the insurance company had appointed another investigator, who had not joined any eyewitness, and the matter was also brought to the notice of the police. After the investigation, it was found that it was an accidental death.