Document Fragment View
Matching Fragments
12. On file there is a medical attendent's certificate dated 3.1.08 issued by Dr. R.K.Sharma, a Medical Officer of Govt. Hospital, Sawaimadhopur which itself shows that it was erassed at many places and in that certificate primary cause of death of the deceased was mentioned as COPD and secondary cause was mentioned as Respiratory failure.
13. Further on file there is a bed head ticket of the Govt. Hospital, Sawaimadhopur which shows that the deceased was admitted in the hospital on 26.1.07 and she had died on 30.1.07 but in that bed head ticket it was not mentioned that she was a patient of COPD.
26. The word "suppression of fact" envisages a deliberate or conscious omission to state of fact with the intention of deriving wrongful gain. In this respect, the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Collector of Customs Calcutta Vs. Tin Plate Co. of India Ltd. ( (1997) 10 SCC 538 ) may be referred to.
Whether appellants had proved the fact that prior to filling in up the declaration form regarding health on 27.11.06, the deceased was a patient of COPD or not.
27. Before proceeding further it may be stated here that what the word ' COPD ' means and the word ' COPD ' means Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and thus the word chronic itself means an old disease.
28. It may be stated here that there is nothing on record to prove the fact that prior to taking the policy in question, the deceased was ever admitted in any hospital or had consulted any doctor for taking the treatment of COPD and when the appellants had failed to prove the fact that the deceased was a patient of COPD prior to taking the policy in question and further she had died due to respiratory failure, meaning thereby her death was due to heart failure and that could take place at any time and from that point of view also the present case could not be said to be a case of suppression of material facts regarding health on the part of the deceased.
29. Further in the doctors' certificate, the primary cause of death of the deceased has been stated as COPD and secondary cause of the death has been stated as Respiratory heart failure and for proving the case of COPD, the appellants had to prove the fact that prior to 27.11.06 she had taken the treatment from any doctor or hospital; especially when the disease of COPD starts with the word ' Chronic' ( old one ) and if the deceased was a patient of COPD with some years back, there must have been something on record to show that she had taken the treatment for the disease of COPD and that fact could not be said to have been proved merely on the basis of the certificate of doctor without any prescription or without any record of the hospital.