The Supreme Court of India. Photo: Reuters/File
- A bench comprising Justices M. R. Shah and B. V. Nagarathna said that state governments cannot say that fraudulent claims are being made by families of COVID-19 victims.
- It also asked the states to complete details with respect to orphans, within one week from February 4, failing which the matter shall be viewed very seriously.
- “It appears that most of the states have given only statistics and no full particulars are given,” the SC told states.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on February 4 highlighted that official statistics on COVID-19 deaths, released by states, were “not true” and directed state governments to pay compensation to relatives of deceased people who have applied without rejecting the claims on technical grounds.
“Official statistics are not true on death figures and it cannot be said fraudulent claims are being made (by families of COVID-19 victims,” a bench comprising Justices M. R. Shah and B. V. Nagarathna said, according to Times of India.
As The Wire Science has reported, a study described in a scientific paper, published on January 6, 2022 and led by demographer and epidemiologist Prabhat Jha found that India’s estimated COVID-19 death toll from June 2020 to July 2021 was 3.2 million – with 2.7 million probably occurring during the second wave alone. India’s official death toll to date is around 0.48 million.
The Wire, The Wire Science, as well as several other outlets have reported on COVID-19 deaths far in excess of the number presented by various state governments.
A recent report held how in Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh alone, 3,59,496 excess deaths between March 2020 and June 2021 over those in the corresponding months in 2019. In contrast, the Union government has said 4,82,017 have died of COVID-19 in India until January 4. The official death count for the three states together was 28,609 till early January.
The apex court also directed all states governments and Union Territories to appoint a dedicated nodal officer to coordinate with the member secretary of the state legal service authority (SLSA) for this.
The bench directed the state governments to give full particulars like name, address and death certificate to the concerned SLSA. The apex court added that the endeavour of legal services authority would be to reach to those victims who have yet not approached for whatever reasons.
It also asked the state governments to complete details with respect to orphans, within one week from Friday failing which the matter shall be viewed very seriously.
The top court reiterated that applications seeking compensation should not be rejected on technical grounds and if any technical glitch is found, the states concerned should give them opportunity to cure defects as the ultimate goal of the welfare state is to provide some solace and compensation to victims.
“States should make all endeavours to pay the compensation to the victims within a maximum period of 10 days from the receipt of the claim,” it said.
“Despite our earlier order directing all the state governments to give full particulars of the deaths due to COVID-19 registered with their portal and the number of persons to whom the ex gratia payment is made, it appears that most of the states have given only statistics and no full particulars are given.”
Also read: COVID-19: Three States Had 3.5L Excess Deaths, and the Ex Gratia May Elude Many
“The object and purpose of our earlier order to give full particulars was to see that at least with respect to those cases which are registered with the state governments if they have not approached the appropriate authorities for compensation,” the bench said.
‘You are not doing charity’
The apex court also rapped the Maharashtra government for rejecting applications submitted offline seeking compensation.
“No application should be rejected for any application which is submitted offline. You are not doing charity. As a welfare state it is their duty. Why are you sending people from pillar to post. Do it from the bottom of the heart,” the bench said.
“There shall be no rejection on the ground that the application is filed offline. Wherever applications are rejected, the state government is directed to review within one week and grant compensation. Maharashtra is directed to give particulars of claims rejected along with reasons to member secretary of state legal service secretary and if it is found on technical ground that those persons are given opportunity to rectify mistakes and reconsider applications,” the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on March 7.
Advocate Gaurav Bansal, who is the petitioner in the case, submitted before the bench that some media reports have stated that in Karnataka in Yadgir district, cheques given to some of the victims have bounced. The apex court asked the counsel for the state government to ensure that cheques do not bounce.
With regards to Rajasthan, the top court noted that it has applied for Rs 10-crore budgetary allocation and said the amount has to be paid from state disaster management fund. Advocate Tarini Kamakhya Nayak also appeared for one of the states.
Taking a cue from the Gujarat high court order passed in the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake in the state, the apex court had earlier directed all the states to share the particulars of registered death due to COVID along with details of payment of compensation with state legal services authorities to reach out to the affected families.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by Bansal and intervenors, represented by advocate Sumeer Sodhi, seeking ex-gratia assistance to family members of COVID-19 victims.
Also read: Kin of Those Who Died by Suicide Within 30 Days of COVID Diagnosis Can Get Ex-Gratia: Centre to SC
The apex court, which was annoyed over the non-disbursal of Rs 50,000 ex-gratia to the kin/family members of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19, had pulled up the state governments.
It had said on October 4, 2021 that no state shall deny ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased due to COVID-19 solely on the ground that the death certificate does not mention the virus as the cause of death.
The court had also said that the ex-gratia is to be disbursed within 30 days from the date of applying to the district disaster management authority or the district administration concerned along with the proof of the death of the deceased due to coronavirus and the cause of death being certified as died due to COVID-19.
The top court had said that its directions for payment of compensation to the family members of the persons, who died due to COVID-19, are very clear and there was no requirement at all of constituting the scrutiny committee to award compensation.
It had said it was very much made clear that even in a case where, in the death certificate, the cause is not shown as death due to COVID-19 but if found that deceased was declared positive for coronavirus and has died within 30 days, automatically his or her family members are entitled to the compensation without any further conditions.
(With PTI inputs)