Read Time: 05 minutes

The Supreme Court on Monday sought suggestions to deal with the issue of doctors issuing fake Covid-19 certificates in view of the attempts of family members of the persons who died of Covid-19 to receive ex gratia compensation.

A bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice BV Nagarathna said that "this may take away the opportunity of some person due to these fake certificates."

The bench was hearing a plea seeking ex-gratia monetary compensation to the families of deceased who succumbed to Covid-19 infection in view of  Section 12 of The Disaster Management Act, 2005.

During the arguments, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that some doctors are issuing fake certificates for the purpose of filing applications to receive the ex gratia compensation and they are also suggesting similar treatment in other diseases as well for families to avail said benefit. 

He suggested that the bench should pass direction for fixation of a certain date, by which the applications filed should be considered for the purpose, and the people who died at the later stage, some time limit can also be fixed for them. "Let it not become an endless process," Mehta added.

However, on the other hand, over the issue of setting out a limited time period to file applications, Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, the petitioner in this matter, submitted that first of all, it should be ensured that the information is communicated in every corner.

To which Justice Shah said, "we understand that but it should also be kept in mind that it cannot be endless, it may continue for 6 years. Other than that, some doctors are making fake certificates which also needs to be addressed. We are the court that has been monitoring it regularly, we need to look into that also."

Accordingly, over the issue of fake certificates, Justice Shah asked Senior Advocate R Basant to suggest solutions for curbing the issue. The bench also hinted that it may ask those States, in which a large number of deaths occurred due to Covid-19 infections, for suggestions in this regard. 

The bench has listed the matter for next Monday for further hearing. 

Earlier, the apex court had directed the States to not reject the applications for ex gratia payments of family member of the victims of COVID-19 on "technical grounds".

Case title: Gaurav Bansal Vs Union of India