New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Central government to probe into bogus claims of ex-gratia compensation for the next of kin of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna ruled that the government could verify 5 per cent of claims in four states, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, because the gap between the number of claims and the number of deaths recorded was wide. , reported news agency PTI.
ANI reported that the apex court has fixed 60 days for death claims till March 28, 2022 and 90 days will be given to future claimants.
Earlier, the Center had filed an application for a time limit of four weeks for claiming ex-gratia payment from authorities on the death of next of kin due to COVID-19.
The top court had earlier expressed concern over bogus claims of receiving ex-gratia of Rs 50,000, saying it had never imagined that it could be “misused” or thought that morality had not gone so low.
The SC had directed all state governments and union territories to appoint a dedicated nodal officer to coordinate with the member secretary of the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) for facilitating the payment of ex-gratia compensation.
Earlier, the top court had pulled up the state governments for not disbursing the ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000.
Notably, on October 4 last year, it had said that no state shall deny ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of those who died after being infected with COVID-19 merely on the ground that the death certificate contained the virus. not mentioned. as the cause of death.
As per the decision of the Supreme Court, the ex-gratia amount is to be disbursed within 30 days from the date of application to the District Disaster Management Authority or the concerned district administration, along with the proof of death of the deceased and the proof of cause of death. Have to go Being certified as death due to COVID-19.
It had insisted that the directions for payment of compensation to the family members of persons who died due to COVID-19 were very clear, adding that there was no need for constitution of an inquiry committee to pay compensation.
According to the order, it was clarified that even in a case in which the cause of death is not shown as COVID-19 on the certificate of death, but if the deceased was declared positive for coronavirus and his death occurred within 30 days. lapsed, his family members are automatically entitled to unconditional compensation.
(with agency input)
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