"Country Will Go Bankrupt": Delhi High Court Refuses To Order Rs. 1 Crore Compensation For Covid-19 Deaths

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to pass orders for payment of Rs. 1 crore as ex-gratia compensation to families of those who have died due to Covid-19 or due to post Covid infections within one month of recovering.

"The entire country will go bankrupt," the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla remarked at the outset. It further noted that there is already a policy in place with respect to payment of compensation to the victims' families and the same has been approved by the Supreme Court in W.P. (C) No. 539/2021.

According to the guidelines framed by the National Disaster Management Authority, ex-gratia compensation for COVID-19 deaths is fixed as Rs 50,000, which will be paid by the States from the State Disaster Response Fund.

In its order, the Bench noted,

"In our view, it is not for this Court to direct payment of ex gratia compensation of Rs.1 Crore to all families whose members died due to Covid-19. The GNCTD has already formulated a uniform policy for the payment of ex gratia compensation to the kin of the deceased who died due to Covid-19 Pandemic."

The development ensued in a writ petition filed by Dr. Vidyottma Jha in June 2021, seeking a policy for awarding compensation to the victims of Pandemic COVID–19.

The Petitioner had alleged that the authorities were paying compensation to the families of selected persons, merely on the basis of pick and choose without any guidelines.