Failure To Disburse COVID Death Compensation : Chief Secretaries Of Bihar & AP Appear Before Supreme Court; Assure Compliance

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court lashed out at the States of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh for not complying with its earlier directions in disbursing ex-gratia compensation to the kin/family of the persons who have died due to COVID-19. Satisfied that the States have failed to comply with its previous orders, a bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and Sanjiv Khanna issued show cause notices to the Chief Secretaries of the two States. Upon hearing the submissions made by the Counsels and relying on the assurances given by the Chief Secretaries, the Bench granted some time to do the needful. It further noted that the Chief Secretaries ought to ensure that all efforts are made to reach out to the eligible claimants and compensate them. Bihar At the outset the Bench expressed its displeasure that the State of Bihar was not updating the data for the death caused due to COVID-19. The Bench was utterly surprised that the death toll as per record was a mere 12090. Observing that pursuant to the order of the Court that, inter alia, anybody who had died within thirty days of testing positive would be eligible to claim ex-gratia compensation, the other states have witnessed an increase in the numbers of claims. It was noted that, unfortunately, the same was not true for Bihar. In view of the same the Bench directed the Chief Secretary to be present virtually at 2 P.M. to explain the failure of the Government in updating the record. "Call your Chief Secretary to remain present. We are not ready to accept that 12,000 had died in Bihar." Despite the assurance given by the Advocate, Mr. Akshay Shrivastava, appearing for the State of Bihar, that he would file an affidavit with the latest record, the Bench was convinced that the presence of the Chief Secretary would be required in the matter. "Your Chief Secretary should not shy away from appearing before us." At 2 P.M. when the Bench assembled the Chief Secretary of Bihar, Mr. Amir Subhani marked his virtual presence. Advocate, Mr. Abhinav Mukerji appearing on behalf of the State of Bihar submitted to the Bench that initial death toll in March was 3,737 and after giving wide publicity the said data was revised twice, once in June and then in July. As per the data till 11.01.2022, the deaths recorded was 12,090. Subsequently 1187 more reports of deaths and claims had been received by the Government. The Bench was categorically informed that the State was granting Rs. 4,50,000 for each COVID death, which is more than what the other States are paying. The Bench was concerned that the State had only received 11,095 claims as per the latest record. "Why only 11095 applications have been received. Either you have not been able to reach them or your efforts have not reached them to make application. Your application should have increased." Mr. Mukerji reiterated that 1187 more claims have been received after 11.01.2022. He further added that he had been informed by the Health Department that Bihar had the lowest positivity ratio during the previous two waves and he assumed that the same might be the reason for the lower number of deaths recorded in the State. He assured the Bench that the payments would be made at the earliest. "I was told by the Health Dept. that we have the lowest positivity ratios in the first and second waves. Maybe that is why deaths have been low. All these people are going to get compensation. We have been paying even before your lordships are ordered. We are ensuring that money is transferred directly through the bank. We will make sure that the amount is disbursed." Referring to pg. 14 of the affidavit filed by the State of Bihar, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Bansal, the applicant pointed out that the low death toll in the State could be attributed to the review committee that it had appointed to scrutinise the applications received. The Bench was perturbed that Bihar was also walking on the footsteps of Gurajat, which had constituted a similar scrutiny committee in derogation of the orders passed by the Apex Court. "This is contrary to our order. We never said to constitute a scrutiny committee for applications received. This was exactly what was done by Gujarat." Mr. Mukerji assured the Bench that the committee was set-up to assist the claimants who do not have the requisite reports and not to act as an impediment for disbursal of compensation. "This is to ensure that if there is no report then that would be reviewed. We don't want to deprive anybody." Referring to the directions passed on the previous occasion, the Bench stated that if RT PCR report was not available then the supporting medical reports can be looked at. Mr. Mukerji informed the Bench that, that was precisely the responsibility that the Committee was entrusted with. On perusal of the affidavit referred to by Mr. Bansal the Bench asked the State Government to come up with a better ...

Failure To Disburse COVID Death Compensation : Chief Secretaries Of Bihar & AP Appear Before Supreme Court; Assure Compliance

Sohini Chowdhury

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