The Bombay High Court asserted that once the factum as regards the employee dying due to contracting the Corona virus is on record, it is hardly of any consequence whether he was admitted to a private or government hospital. The substance that matters is whether the employee’s death is due to contracting Covid during the course of his duties in tackling the surge of Covid-19.
The Court, therefore, directed the Collector, Nashik to process the proposal forwarded by Manmad Municipal Council, who shall forward the proposal within a period of 4 weeks to the State Government. The Court also cautioned that the compensation in terms of the Government Resolution (GR) dated February 11, 2022 shall be paid to the petitioners within a period of 10 weeks, and any attempt to delay or defeat the claim on technical considerations shall be viewed seriously.
The Division Bench comprising Justice M.S. Karnik and Justice S.M. Modak observed that the employee was a frontline worker required to tackle Covid-19 surge, and he died in harness. There is therefore, no reason to doubt the genuineness of the certificate which is issued by the hospital, merely because the hospital is a private hospital.
The Bench observed that to again subject the proposal to a detailed verification and scrutiny would amount to adding to the agony of the family of the deceased employee who had served for 31 years as a Sweeper with the Municipal Council. Further, the concerned employee was admittedly a frontline worker who was assigned the task of tackling the surge of Covid-19 virus.
The Bench emphasised that the employee is covered by the GR subject to the fulfilment of the conditions. The only argument is that the employee was admitted to a private hospital when the requirement of the GR is admission in the government hospital. The Bench said that in trying times when the employee contracted Covid, to expect him to be admitted only in a government hospital for claiming an entitlement, is arbitrary and unjust.
To subject the proposal for minute scrutiny in terms of the GR which is issued after the death of the employee would be unjust, particularly when the cause of death is already on record and further when there is no dispute that the concerned employee was a frontline worker tackling the surge of Covid-19 virus, asserted the Bench, while stating that the requirements of the GR are procedural formalities, purely technical in nature.
Briefly, the late Unmesh Sharad Kulkarni joined the services of Manmad Municipal Council as Class IV employee in June 1990, and the Municipal Council appointed him as force staff to tackle Covid-19 surge at Dr. Babasaheb Amebedkar Playground and Railway Institute. In the meantime, the Government of Maharashtra issued a GR granting ex-gratia of Rs. 50 lakh to the family members of municipal employees who died due to Covid- 19.
However, as the name of the petitioner was not uploaded on ICMR portal at the hospital, the petitioners issued a notice demanding release of ex-gratia amount. In terms of the procedure prescribed by GR, after the certificate was obtained from Iqra Hospital that the employee was a victim of Covid-19 virus, the Municipal Council submitted a proposal to the District Administrative Officer, recording that the concerned hospital has mentioned the cause of death as Covid-19 virus.
Appearances:
Advocates Alankar Kirpekar, Sagar Kasar, Ayush Tiwari, Rishabh Tiwari, Amol Wagh, and Sagar Kasar, for the Petitioner
Advocates Shriniwas S. Patwardhan, A.V. Hardas, Shriram Kulkarni, and AGP Pooja Patil, for the Respondent
