SC gives centre 6 weeks to decide on ex gratia compensation to COVID victims
A three bench Judge headed by Justice Ashok Bhusan, in its judgement, directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to ascertain within six weeks whether the ex-gratia amount can be paid to the family members of the victims.
NEW DELHI:
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, directed the Centre to frame guidelines to grant ex-gratia compensation to families of those who died due to the COVID-19 virus.
A three bench Judge headed by Justice Ashok Bhusan, in its judgement, directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to ascertain within six weeks whether the ex-gratia amount can be paid to the family members of the victims.
In addition to that, the Apex Court in its judgement also said that the NDMA is statutorily mandated to provide the minimum amount of relief during the pandemic.
Earlier, a petition in regard to the ex-gratia compensation was filed by two lawyers-Gaurav Bansal and Reepak Kansal, who had moved the court in accordance with the statute and rules mentioned in Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act 2005.
The lawyers in thier petition claimed that the centre had issued a revised list of norms of asstance from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) through its MHA letter and accordingly recommended an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakhs to the family members of the deceased.
(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)
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