Administrative error: declared alive three years after his “death”

A death certificate was issued in his name on March 7, 2021. But Bhye Reshad Mungla is alive and well. The 51-year-old resident of Nouvelle-Découverte had filed an action aimed at forcing the civil registry to rectify this administrative error. The Supreme Court ordered the cancellation of the death certificate this Monday, June 3.

It was on August 4, 2022 that Bhye Reshad Mungla filed a complaint. Born on March 8, 1973 in Nouvelle-Découverte, Moka, Bhye Reshad Mungla declared that he had “a shock” when he learned, in March 2021, that he had been declared dead. This was when he applied for the Wage Assistance Scheme with the Mauritius Revenue Authority during the COVID-19 period.

During the same year, he was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Terre-Rouge for theft. At the police station he was informed that he had a history of theft, which he denied. At Central CID, he was shown a photocopy of a national identity card showing his name and the same identification number, but with a different signature and photograph. The person appearing on the said national identity card resides in Eugène Laurent, Port-Louis.

Judge Johan Moutou-Leckning ordered the deletion of the words “died on 03/07/2021” from the birth certificate of Bhye Reshad Mungla and the cancellation of the death certificate drawn up in his name.