Private Doctors Who Worked During Pandemic & Died Of COVID Eligible Under PM Insurance Scheme : Supreme Court
Amisha Shrivastava
11 Dec 2025 10:41 AM IST
Families of doctors who sacrificed during Covid period cannot be told there is no compensation, the Court said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the families of doctors who died while doing their duties during the Covid-19 pandemic are entitled to the Central Government's insurance coverage scheme "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19", even if they were not formally requisitioned by the Government.
A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan set aside the Bombay High Court's judgment, which held that private doctors are not entitled to the Government's insurance scheme.
"There was a requisition of doctors as a matter of principle and as per the declaration under the law. Whether a particular doctor was functioning or not is left to be determined on the basis of evidence. Doctors who sacrificed during COVID period cannot be told, their families cannot be told that compensation won't be available. High Court's judgment is set aside to this extent," Justice Narasimha said during the pronouncement of the verdict.
The copy of the judgment is awaited.
Background
The case concerns the Central Government's insurance scheme “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19”, which was announced to provide insurance cover to health workers who died due to COVID-19 while serving during the pandemic.
The lead petitioner is the widow of one Dr. B.S. Surgade, an Ayurvedic practitioner who died of COVID-19 in June 2020. She sought ₹50 lakh compensation under the scheme. The New India Assurance Company rejected her claim on the ground that Dr. Surgade was carrying out private practice and had not been requisitioned by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation for COVID-19 duty.
On March 9, 2021, the Bombay High Court upheld this stand. It held that the scheme applied only to health workers whose services were “requisitioned or drafted” by government authorities for COVID-19 duties. The High Court said there was no evidence that Dr. Surgade had been requisitioned under the scheme and noted that the petitioner had not challenged the constitutionality of the scheme but only sought her husband's inclusion under it.
On October 29, 2021, the Supreme Court issued notice in the special leave petition filed by Dr. Surgade's widow and other similarly placed petitioners. Several other doctors and families of deceased medical professionals joined the proceedings. The Supreme Court observed that the matter raised issues of “significant public importance” because it dealt with the government's assurance of insurance cover for health professionals who served during the pandemic.
During the hearing on October 28, 2025, the Court examined whether doctors who continued to treat patients during the pandemic but were not formally placed on government duty could be considered eligible under the scheme.
Justice Narasimha stressed the contribution of medical professionals and said, “Society will not forgive us if we don't take care of our doctors.” The Court said it would not decide individual claims but would set out broad principles for implementation.
The Court while reserving judgment indicated that two aspects were central: whether the doctor had actively offered medical services during the pandemic, and whether the death resulted from COVID-19 infection. It asked the Centre to provide data on similar or parallel schemes and said the government must ensure that insurance companies honour valid claims.
Report to be updated after the judgment is uploaded.
Case no. – SLP(C) No. 16860/2021
Case Title – Pradeep Arora v. Director, Health Department