"National Authority to recommend appropriate guidelines for ex gratia assistance on account of loss of life due to Covid-19 pandemic": Supreme Court

Supreme Court of India

In two separate petitions filed on behalf of coronavirus victims, lawyers Reepak Kansal and Gaurav Kumar Bansal sought directions from the Supreme Court to the Centre and states to provide Rs. 4,00,000 as compensation under the Disaster Management Act.

According to the Centre, there was no issue regarding fiscal affordability, but ex-gratia compensation of Rs. 4,00,000 to the families of COVID victims cannot be paid keeping in mind the "rational, judicious and optimum usage of resources of the nation".

The court has held that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) must issue new guidelines concerning the minimum standard of relief to be granted to families of COVID-19 victims within six weeks.

While the court will not direct the centre to fix a specific amount, the government can propose a minimum standard of ex-gratia amount to be given to surviving family members of those killed in COVID-19 while taking certain aspects into account.

While directing Centre and NDMA to issue new guidelines in six weeks, a special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah said the government can fix a reasonable amount considering the funds and resources available.

NDMA also failed to perform its statutory duties, and the top court rejected the Centre's argument that "shall" should be read as "may" in section 12 of the Act.

The government has stated that it has taken various steps to strategise nation's response to COVID which is a "once in a lifetime pandemic inflicted on the entire world" and "not just the funds of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) but also of Consolidated Fund of India are being utilised according to the advice of experts."

The Apex Court has also directed the appropriate authority to "to issue simplified guidelines for issuance of Death Certificates/official document stating the exact cause of death, i.e., “Death due to Covid-19”, to the family members of the deceased who died due to Covid-19"

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