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A Supreme Court bench of Justices M.R.Shah and B.V.Nagarathna today recorded in an order that they are satisfied with Gujarat government's scheme to provide ex-gratia compensation to the families of those who died of COVID-19 in the State. The bench further recorded that the scheme  has now been simplified and is in consonance with earlier order of the court.

When the hearing of the matter commenced, Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India (SG), submitted that the State of Gujarat has filed a fresh affidavit in pursuance of the court's order and that a new scheme simplifies the process to claim compensation without any hassle. Justice MR Shah at this juncture questioned as to why there is no online portal to apply for compensation. He opined that while the scheme is in order, people living in remote areas will have to travel some distance to submit their application to a Collector or Mamlatdar.

The SG replied to this by undertaking that an online portal for this purpose will be up and running in 2 weeks time. 

The bench however was of the opinion that in many States the scheme is not consistent and that as per the court's previous order the number of claimants will also increase. The court had in its previous order said that any person who died within 30 days of having tested positive for COVID-19 must also be considered a victim of the virus and his family be compensated. 

The court on hearing the submissions recorded that while procedure for granting ex-gratia compensation has now been simplified, there is a need to create a mode for online submission of application.

The court while directing the State of Gujarat to create a portal further noted that the portal must enable an applicant to submit an application for compensation and avoid long queues. The court also suggested that the other states follow the scheme that the Gujarat government has formulated. 

The court further noted that as per the additional affidavit has been filed by the centre after collecting data on compensation from all the States, it appears that in many of the States, the number of forms received for availing the compensation is very low. The court further noted that some of the states have not even furnished any particulars to the centre and that it can safely be presumed that there is no wide publicity given or there is not wide publicity by State or the concerned authorities that no publicity was done to let the public know that the State is providing an ex-gratia compensation.

The matter has now been adjourned to 6th of December for the States to respond on publicity for the scheme and for Gujarat government to report on the creation of an online portal.

Earlier, the Court had said that the Gujarat Government has attempted to overreach its order while appointing a scrutiny Committee for allowing ex-gration compensation to the families of persons who died of Covid.

On the last date of hearing, Top Court noted that though a modified resolution of the Government was on record, it was prima facie of the opinion that the same required modification/clarification, subject to submissions by the Centre. The court had also directed the centre to  dispense with the ex gratia compensation of Rs.50,000/- to those whose particulars are already available with the Government.

Case title: Gaurav Kumar Bansal v. Union of India