SC reserves verdict on Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia compensation to kin of Covid deceased

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 21

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on PILs seeking an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those who lost their lives due to Covid-19 pandemic.

After hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocate SB Upadhyay and others, a Bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice MR Shah asked the parties to file written submissions in three days and reserved its order.

It directed the Centre to simplify the process of grant of death certificates to the dependents of COVID19 victims as the petitioners alleged lack of uniform guidelines for it. Earlier, it had asked the Centre to furnish the ICMR guidelines on death certificates for Covid-19 victims.

The Centre maintained that giving an ex gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh each to kin of Covid-19 victims wasn’t possible due to limited resources as it would affect pandemic response on other aspects, leading to more damage than good.

”Already the finances of state governments and the Central Government are under severe strain, due to the reduction in tax revenues and increase in health expenses on account of the pandemic,” the Ministry of Home Affairs had said in an affidavit filed in the top court.

It had also cautioned the court against stepping into the domain of the Executive as it might have unintended constitutional ramifications.

On Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, it was not the case of the government that it had no funds. “The question is how to utilise the funds,” he said, adding an insurance scheme would be the best way to handle such situations created by a pandemic.

Earlier, senior advocate SB Upadhyay submitted that financial constraints cannot be used to evade constitutional obligations of the State.

Highlighting that many families have lost their “sole bread earner”, petitioners Gaurav Kumar Bansal and Reepak Kansal had contended that under section 12(iii) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, every family whose member died due to disaster was entitled for ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh.

However, the Centre said the entire amount of the State Disaster Relief Fund will end up being utilised for such payments, if such payments are made, it said. “Utilisation of scarce resources for giving ex gratia, may have unfortunate consequences of affecting the pandemic response and health expenditure in other aspects and hence cause more damage than good.”