Apex court expresses concern over fake Covid-19 compensation claims

The SC said it was mulling the possibility of fixing an outer time limit even for genuine claimants to seek the compensation

Family members of Covid-19 victims burn an effigy during a protest to demand compensation from the government in Patna on Saturday.: PTI Photo

R. Balaji   |  TT  |  New Delhi   |    08.03.22  : The Supreme Court on Monday said it might order an independent probe into the matter of some doctors issuing false Covid death certificates to enable families to fraudulently claim the Rs 50,000 compensation.

It said it was also mulling the possibility of fixing an outer time limit even for genuine claimants to seek the compensation.

“What is worrying is the fake certificates being given by doctors. It is a very serious issue. Our orders should not be misused…. We may order some independent probe,” the bench of Justices M.R. Shah and V. Nagarathna observed orally while hearing a petition related to Covid compensation.

The court asked senior advocate V. Giri, appearing for the Kerala government in the matter, for suggestions on how to tackle the problem of false Covid death certificates.

Earlier, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, had made a submission on doctors issuing false Covid death certificates.

The bench agreed with Mehta that it should fix an outer time limit for claiming compensation.

“Yes, we agree there must be some outer limit for payment of the benefit. Otherwise it will be an endless process for five-six years,” the bench said. The matter will be heard again next Monday.

The bench was hearing a public interest plea from an advocate, Gaurav Kumar Bansal, in connection with which it had earlier directed the states to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to each family that had lost a member to Covid.

At one of the hearings, the court had directed the states not to insist on RT-PCR reports but award the compensation on the basis of Covid death certificates issued by competent medical practitioners.

At that earlier hearing, the court had rapped the states for rejecting Covid death compensation claims from thousands of families and directed payment of the compensation to each of the 10,000-odd children orphaned by the pandemic.

“We direct all states that whenever claims are rejected, the reasons for rejection must be communicated to the claimants and they must be given an opportunity to rectify their claims,” the court had said.

“We make it clear that no claims be rejected on technical grounds. Claimants be given a chance to rectify their applications and such claims be seen by grievance redressal committee within a week from today.”

The Rs 50,000 compensation is in addition to any other compensation the families are eligible for under insurance laws and other statutory provisions.