Death by drowning attracts compensation under Clause 6(4) of Chhattisgarh Revenue Book Circular.

The petitioner’s husband died due to drowning.

Despite the submission of an FIR, investigation report, and a postmortem report confirming drowning as the cause of death, the Deputy Collector (Respondent No. 3) passed an order on 23/09/2024 rejecting the claim.

The authority held that the case did not fall under Clause 6(4) of the Chhattisgarh Revenue Book Circular (RBC), as amended on 01/12/2022.

The petitioner approached the High Court seeking quashment of the impugned order and a direction for compensation of Rs. 4,00,000/-.

Whether the death of the petitioner’s husband due to drowning entitles the petitioner to compensation under Clause 6(4) of the Chhattisgarh Revenue Book Circular.

Whether the impugned order dated 23/09/2024 passed by the Deputy Collector, Raigarh is legally sustainable.

The Court applied Clause 6(4) of the Chhattisgarh Revenue Book Circular (as amended), which provides for compensation to the nearest dependents of persons who die due to natural calamities or accidents involving drowning in rivers, tanks, dams, wells, or canals.

The Court relied on the precedent Aasho Bai and Others v. State of Chhattisgarh and Others (WPC No. 3167/2018), which established that the State must award compensation for accidental deaths occurring in such water bodies under the relevant government circulars.

The Court examined the documentary evidence, including the FIR and postmortem report, which unequivocally established that the deceased died of drowning.

It rejected the Respondent No. 3's finding that the incident fell outside the scope of the Revenue Book Circular, noting that the Respondents/State eventually conceded that the case was indeed covered under Clause 6(4).

By applying the logic from Aasho Bai, the Court reasoned that since the State had issued specific guidelines for compensation in cases of accidental drowning, there was no legal justification to deny the benefit to the petitioner when the cause of death was medically and legally documented.

The writ petition was allowed, and the respondent authorities were directed to pay compensation of Rs. 4,00,000/- to the petitioner within three months from the date of production of the certified order.