Prepared List Of Persons Entitled To Ex Gratia Compensation Of 50K For Deaths Within Family Due To Covid 19, Related Issues: Delhi Govt Informs High Court

The Delhi Government on Thursday informed the High Court that it has prepared a list of 25,000 persons who are entitled to an ex gratia compensation amount of Rs. 50,000 for the deaths within their families due to covid or covid related issues.

Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra appearing for the GNCTD told Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh that as of September 9, over 6700 application were received by the Delhi Government for grant of ex gratia compensation to the families of persons who died due to covid 19.

The bench was also told that a complete list shall be shared with Mr. Kanwal Jeet Arora, member secretary of DSLSA indicating the persons whose applications have been recieved and also the applications which are under process.

 In view of this, the Court directed Mr. Arora to go through the list and render assistance to persons who have either not applied or are finding it difficult in producing relevant documents for processing their applications.

The bench added that the cases whose applications have been rejected be also provided assistance in case they wish to file appeals in the matter.

The Court was dealing with a bunch of petitions concerning the Covid-19 situation in the national capital.

Earlier, the Court observed that it will be unfair to expect children who lost their parents, one or both, due to Covid-19 to procure documents in order to avail benefits under various welfare schemes launched by the Delhi Government.

Taking note of the issues in relation to the verification process of such applications, the bench also directed Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government to file a status report regarding the process for dealing with the welfare schemes under Juvenile Justice Act.

Previously, the Court had issued a slew of directions to the GNCTD for ensuring that it complies to the provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 in view of providing protection to the affected children. It observed that the Delhi Government had not opened up to reality for coming up with enough mechanism to safeguard the rights of children and that there was a complete bankruptcy in the departments of the Delhi Government.

The matter will now be heard on October 1.

Case Title: Rakesh Malhotra v. GNCTD