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Supreme Court today directed the Centre to file reply within 10 days, in a plea seeking ex gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of deceased who succumbed to COVID 19, in view of Section 12 Disaster Management Act, 2005.

A Division Bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice MR Shah, while hearing the matter today, noted that several times the reason for death of a person infected with COVID 19 is not clearly mentioned. Justice Shah specifically stated that when a person is admitted to a COVID facility, the treatment and symptoms of the infection cause multiple effects. In this case, if a death occurs, the reason remains unidentified, unstated by the authorities.

Listing the matter for hearing on June 11^th, the bench said,

“Any policy or guidelines for issuance of death certificate caused due to COVID 19 may be brought on record.”

It was also added that some States were following ICMR guidelines in this respect. Therefore, that may also be produced for the Court’s perusal.

ASG Ms. Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the Union.

Senior Advocate SB Upadhyay apprised the bench of non-mentioning and lack of clarity on death certificate due to COVID 19.

Section 12 of NDMA, 2005 says, “The National Authority shall recommend guidelines for the minimum standards of relief to be provided to persons affected by disaster, which shall include: (iii) Ex Gratia Assistance on account of loss of life as also assistance on account of damage to houses and for restoration of means of livelihood.”

“Because as per revised list of items and norms of assistance issued by respondent 1, it is the duty of the respondents to provide ex gratia compensation to all families whose members have died due to COVID 19 virus while providing their services in relief operations or were associated with preparedness activities to combat COVID 19 pandemic”, one of the grounds in the plea states.

Also Read: https://lawbeat.in/top-stories/plea-supreme-court-seeks-ex-gratia-monetary-or-notified-compensation-families-deceased

Case Title: Gaurav Kumar Bansal v. UOI connected Reepak Kansal v. UOI