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The Delhi High Court recently issued notice on a plea by minor children of a deceased man seeking compensation for the death of their father allegedly due to insufficient supply of oxygen at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi.

The vacation bench led by Justice Amit Bansal issued notices on the plea filed by Yasmin & Ruben Kataria through their mother and guardian Shalu Kataria seeking expeditious implementation of various schemes as floated by the GNCTD,  Union government, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for providing the compensatory/ex gratia amount and other benefits to the families especially children of sole bread earner on account of death due to lack of supply of oxygen during the second wave of Covid 19.

The petitioners have stated that their father was the sole earning member of the family who was taking care of all the expenses pertaining to the education of the petitioners and meeting expenses of household and other ancillary needs of the family.

The petitioners have further submitted that despite taking precautions, the father of the petitioners tested positive for Covid after which he was admitted to Jaipur Golden Hospital and was also put on Oxygen Support where it was assured by the Hospital that it is equipped with all the necessary medical infrastructure since it was a Private Healthcare Institute.

However later the father of the petitioners lost his life due to shortage of oxygen at the hospital and the same was not intimated to the deceased’s family.  On the very next day, the petitioners also lost their grandmother.

The petitioners are survived by their local guardian, i.e the mother and grandfather who is a senior citizen and the mother is presently not working and looking after her father-in-law.

The petitioners have submitted that “with great dismay that in recent cases, the death of some patients having the novel coronavirus have been merely due to lack of oxygen supply and the said death, being preventable, cannot be directly attributed to covid-19 as most of the Covid-19 patients whpo have been provided oxygen support have been able to survive and as such the shortage of oxygen is the actual and proximate cause of deaths of people in such cases including the Father and Grand Mother of the petitioners.”

The petitioners have also pointed out that various schemes have been floated by the State and Union Government to grant compensation to the families who lost their sole earner or for the benefit of small children who lost their parents who died due to Covid 19 or due to lack of oxygen, however same has not been implemented till date as per the knowledge of the petitioner.

Emphasizing on the right to education, the petitioners have also sought a direction the government  to announce and expeditiously implement the schemes for children like petitioners who are studying in Private Schools, who have lost their sole bread earner due to lack of oxygen supply or due to covid and to bear all the educational expenses of the petitioners in the interest of justice.

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