Has PM-headed NDMA decided not to pay compensation to kin of Covid victims, SC asks Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Union government if the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, has decided on paying compensation to families of those who died of Covid-19.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, whether NDMA, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken any decision that no compensation should be given as ex-gratia.

The court put the query as Mehta defended the government's decision against paying Rs four lakh as ex-gratia on the ground that it would affect States' finances and efforts to tackle the pandemic.

It reserved its judgement on separate petitions by advocates Gaurav Kumar Bansal and Reepak Kansal. They cited Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act 2005, which said that national authority should recommend guidelines for the minimum standards of relief to be provided to persons affected by disaster, which must include ex-gratia assistance.

The court gave the parties three days time to file their written submissions.

During the hearing, the bench also sought to know from the Centre details of compensation provided to people who died of Covid-19, as per the policy framed by each state.

It court stressed "to avoid heartburn” among beneficiaries, the Centre should consider framing an uniform compensation scheme.

Senior advocate S B Upadhyay, appearing for a party, contended that there was no uniform scheme on compensation to Covid victims.

He said that in Delhi, Rs 50,000 was being paid while in Bihar, Rs 4 Lakh and in Karnataka Rs one lakh for Covid deaths, pointing toward the disparity.

Mehta, for his part, said most states were paying from funds other than State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).

The counsel also submitted government was duty-bound under Section 12 of the Act to frame a scheme for providing relief to the victims. He read the notification issued on March 14, 2020, where the government notified Covid as a natural disaster, and it is certainly like a catastrophe.

The bench noted that no one can say it is not a disaster within Disaster Management Act.

The court said that every disaster is different and there can be a small and big pandemic, or a big flood or small food, and insisted that standards of a small pandemic cannot be applied to a big pandemic.

The Union government has earlier told the court ex-gratia can’t be paid to all those who died due to Covid-19 as it would exhaust the disaster relief funds, and also impact the Centre and States preparation to address future waves of the pandemic.