New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday sought a response from the Rajasthan government to a plea alleging non- payment of ex-gratia to orphans and family members of those who died of COVID-19. A bench of Justices M R Shah and Krishna Murari directed that a copy of the petition be served to Rajasthan's counsel and asked him to respond to the allegations.
The top court will take up the matter on October 10. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal alleging Rajasthan is not adhering to the 2021 order directing states to pay ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the families of those who succumbed to the pandemic. Bansal also sought directions to call for status reports from the State Legal Services Authorities with respect to the enforcement of its orders.
The apex court had earlier expressed concern over fake claims being made for securing ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 meant for the families of those who died due to Covid, saying it had never visualised that the relief can be "misused". It had said on October 4 last year 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 solely on the grounds that the death certificate does not mention the virus as the cause of the death. (PTI)
