2026:CGHC:19516 Digitally signed by AJAY KUMAR DWIVEDI DN: cn=AJAY NAFR KUMAR DWIVEDI, ou=HIGH COURT, o=HIGH COURT OF HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CHHATTISGARH, st=Chhattisgarh, c=IN WPC No. 5249 of 2021 Smt. Laxmi Sahu D/o Late Shayam Sunder Aged About 25 Years R/o Village Bijabhata, Tahsil Dongargaon District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh.

... Petitioner.

Versus

1 - The State Of Chhattisgarh Through Its Secretary, Revenue And Disaster Management, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

2 - The Collector Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.

3 - The Additional Collector, Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh.

4 - Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue) Dongargoan, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh.

5 - Naib Tahsildar, Dongargoan, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh.

... Respondents.

(cause title downloaded from CIS Periphery)

For Petitioner : Ms. Bhavika Kotecha, Advocate.

For Res/State : Mr. Dilman Rati Minj, Dy. AG.

( Hon’ble Shri Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi )

Order on Board

28/04/2026 With the consent of learned counsel for the parties, the matter is heard finally.

1. This Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been preferred by the petitioner challenging the order dated 29/09/2021 passed by the Upper Collector, Rajnandgaon (C.G.), whereby the application filed by the petitioner seeking an ex gratia amount of Rs.4,00,000/- on account of the death of her mother, namely, late Suman Bai, due to drowning has been rejected.

2. Facts of the case, as projected by the petitioner is that on the date of the incident, i.e. 06/09/2020 at about 4 PM, Smt. Suman Bai, mother of the petitioner, had gone to the agricultural field for cutting grass. While she was cutting grass from a field ridge (Medh) which had a height of 6-7 feet, she slipped and fell face-down into a field filled with water up to 3 feet. As a result, she died on the spot. Subsequently, after receiving information, the police lodged Merg Report No.78/20. An inquest report was prepared. Postmortem of the deceased was conducted, in which the doctor opined the cause of death to be "asphyxia due to drowning." Spot Map, etc., was prepared by the police. Since in the Merg Enquiry it was found that the deceased died due to asphyxia from drowning in water, the Merg Enquiry was closed.

3. Subsequently, the petitioner, who is the daughter of the deceased, filed an application for the grant of an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 4 Lacs before the Revenue Authority. The Tahsildar, Dongargaon, vide order 30/06/2021, recommended granting the ex gratia amount to the legal heirs of the deceased on the ground of death by drowning. Similar recommendations were also made by the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), Dongargaon, as well as the Upper Collector, Rajnandgaon. However, when the matter was forwarded to the Collector, Rajnandgaon, he remitted the matter back to the SDO (Revenue) for spot inspection and further enquiry.

4. After receiving the matter, the SDO (Revenue) again conducted the enquiry, during which villagers informed him that the deceased was suffering from epilepsy seizures. However, villagers could not ascertain whether she was experiencing seizures at the time of the incident. He further opined that, according to villagers, the deceased was lying face-down in an agricultural field filled with water. Consequently, the SDO (Revenue) changed his earlier recommendation and held that the petitioner is not entitled for the ex gratia amount. Thereafter, similar negative opinion was forwarded by the Upper Collector, which was approved by the Collector, Rajnandgaon, vide impugned order dated 29/09/2021.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the Revenue Authorities, except the Collector, Rajnandgaon, had earlier given positive opinions recommending for grant of the ex gratia amount based on due consideration of the enquiry. Further, the villagers informed the Authorities about the incident, and spot inspection also confirmed that the deceased was found face-down in an agricult