- It shall be the duty of the nearest relation present at the time of the death or in attendance during the last illness of any person dying within the municipal area and, in default of such relation, of any person present or in attendance at the time of the death and of the occupier of the premises in which, to his knowledge, the death took place and, in default of the person hereinbefore mentioned, of each inmate of such premises and of the undertaker or other person causing the corpse of the deceased person to be disposed of to give [within twenty-one days from the date of its occurrence and] [Inserted by the West Bengal Act 22 of 2000 w.e.f. 1.9.2000.] to the best of his knowledge and belief, to the officer specially empowered in this behalf for the area within which the death took place, information containing such particulars [as may be required under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 :] [Substituted by ibid, w.e.f. 1.9.2000 for 'as may be prescribed within twenty-four hours of its occurrence'.]Provided that-(a)if the cause of death is known to be a dangerous disease, the information as aforesaid shall be given within twelve hours of its occurrence;(b)if the death of any person occurs in a hospital or a nursing home or a maternity home, it shall be the duty of none but the medical officer or other officer-in-charge thereof to forward forthwith a report of such death in such form as may, from time to time, be specified by the State Government.
