New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking directions to the Centre and State Governments on the formulation of a national policy to provide compensation for the families of the persons who have succumbed to the coronavirus disease.
Rejecting the petition, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan remarked that each State has a different policy on such compensation as per its financial condition.
Advocate Deepak Prakash, representing petitioner Hashik Thayikandy, argued that compensation was necessary for frontline corona warriors like doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff etc.
Thousands of persons had died in India due to the virus, alleging that the kin of victims were “not getting equal compensation, the petitioner said.
While the Delhi government gave Rs 1 crore to frontline staff fighting coronavirus, others offered merely Rs 1 lakh, he pointed out.
The petitioner pointed out that a majority of the country’s population is falls in financially weak category, wherein the entire family was dependent on only one earning member.
“The state of the world is akin to an emergency, being war-like in nature; therefore, it is imperative to provide ex gratia compensation as a mode of relief measure and financial assistance to those families who have lost their loved ones to COVID-19,” he said.
The bench said that it was not inclined to hear the plea and would dismiss it. Then, the counsel sought to withdraw the plea.