M.B. Shah, President—The only question which requires consideration is: “whether the death caused by ‘cold wave’ is considered to be an ‘accidental death’ for the purpose of insurance cover”?

2. In our view, for the purposes of insurance cover death caused by ‘cold wave’ is accidental death.

Law on the issue

3. For this purpose, at the outset, we would refer to the following paragraph from Halsbury’s Laws of England(4th Edition, 2003 Re-issue, Insurance, 569 and 570) and also the decisions of the Patna High Court in Kamlawati Devi v. State of Bihar and Ors.1 and Branch Manager, United India Insurance Company Ltd., Biharshariff at Nalanda with National Insurance Company and Ors. v. The State of Bihar and Ors.2

4. In the Halbury’s Laws of England, the meaning of the word ‘accident’ is given and also ‘accidental death’ in case of exposure to natural elements as stated to be accidental death.

“569. Meaning of ‘accident’— The event insured against may be indicated in the policy solely by reference to the phrase ‘injury by accident’ or the equivalent phrase ‘accidental injury’, or it may be indicated as ‘injury caused by or resulting from an accident’. The word ‘accident’, or its ad