Court and compensation: On ex gratia to kin of COVID-19 victims

The Supreme Court has done much to grant some succour to the kin of COVID-19 victims

In the latest order, the Bench, comprising Justice M.R. Shah and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, has directed that if a claim has been rejected due to defects in application, the family must be given an opportunity to rectify the shortcoming and then be paid the compensation. Noting that in some cases, the number of claims is lower than the number of registered deaths, the Court has directed that officials reach out to the families on their own. It has extracted assurances from some States that claims that had been cleared but yet to be disbursed would be cleared as early as possible. Significantly, it has also mandated the disclosure of the reasons for rejection to the applicants so that they could either rectify errors or go on appeal to the committee to redress such grievances. In yet another bid to ensure that eligible families are not denied the benefit, the Court has roped in the legal services authority in each State and district to ascertain whether compensation has been paid to the kin of everyone recorded as dead due to the pandemic in official records, and facilitate the payment if it is yet to be made. The Supreme Court has done much to grant some succour, low though the quantum may be in the light of the staggering impact the pandemic has had on lives and livelihoods, to millions of people.

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