SC directs states to pay claims for COVID-19 ex-gratia without delay
New Delhi: The Supreme Court gave a final order directing the states to settle all claims of COVID ex-gratia payment of Rs 50,000 without wasting any further time as it received some complaints about certain states who are yet to process the claims.
A two-judge bench comprising justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna, while disposing of an application, gave the order, stating, "We close the present proceedings by directing all states to see that compensation payable under our earlier judgment and orders be paid to eligible candidates without wasting any time."
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The application was filed by a former Andhra Pradesh legislator of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who alleged that Rs 1100 crore fund which was meant for COVID ex-gratia under the State Disaster Respond Fund (SDRF) was diverted by the Andhra Pradesh government as compensation money for farmers affected due to drought in the state.
The Andhra Pradesh government had responded that the money was diverted from SDRF to a personal deposit account for financing input subsidy to farmers for the 'Kharif' crop as a gratuitous relief. The state, however, has agreed to transfer the said amount back to SDRF, reports the Hindustan Times.
Directing the state to do the said transfer, the bench observed, "The said amount shall be re-transferred to SDRF within two weeks. The said amount is to be dealt with and utilized according to the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the purpose for the said amount may be for payment of COVID ex-gratia." Further, the bench directed those who are still left out from compensation to approach the grievance redressal committee (GRC) for either non-payment of compensation or rejection of their claim.
On 30 June last year, the court held that the kin of those who passed away due to COVID-19 would be given ex-gratia payment under DMA, 2005 since COVID was a notified disaster under the said Act. The order was passed in response to two public interest litigations (PILs), one of which was filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal. Bansal had been involved in helping with the roll-out of compensation by gathering data on payments made by states and reporting states which showed laxity in the same.
On October 4, the bench quantified the ex-gratia amount of ₹50,000 to be paid out of the SDRF account to persons who died due to COVID. The claimant's death certificate showing the cause of death due to COVID, or hospital records, RT-PCR reports showing death having occurred within 30 days of testing COVID positive at home, in a hospital, or even beyond 30 days of admission at the hospital as proof to claim the ex-gratia amount, the bench had said.
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