First Covid-19 death among Supreme Court staffers as admin branch member dies

A Supreme Court administration branch member has died due to the novel coronavirus, an official said Sunday, confirming the first COVID-19 death among the country’s top court staffers.

The apex court has been hearing matters through video conferencing since March 23, two days before a national lockdown was imposed to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

An apex court official said that Rajendra Rawat, who died on Saturday, was with the SC’s administration department and had tested positive for COVID-19 five days back.

Rawat, who was around 50, is survived by his spouse and three children, he said.

Till August 19, about 125 Registry staff and their immediate family members had got infected with the virus.

The apex court registry has been functioning with a reduced number of staff due to various reasons including the lack of adequate public transport facilities.

The top court has been taking sanitisation measures and other Covid-19 protocols as preventive steps.