The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to respond to a petition filed by a woman seeking ex gratia for her mother’s death due to COVID-19.
Justice Rekha Palli asked the authorities to submit their replies before the next date of hearing on November 18.
The woman, in her plea, said her mother Bimla Devi complained of fever and other problems and was admitted to the Saroj Medical Institute here on April 28 and after her RT-PCR report came positive, she was discharged from the hospital.
The plea said Devi was discharged in a critical condition by the hospital and the family could not arrange bed in any other hospital as there was shortage during the second wave of COVID-19.
The patient died at her home on May 3. The woman claimed that she could not get the death certificate of her mother from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) office as her brother was not cooperating in the process.
The petition said it was not only a statutory obligation under the Disaster Management Act to provide ex gratia assistance on account of loss of life but it was the constitutional obligation also since it affected the right to life guaranteed under the Constitution.
“However, what reasonable amount to be offered towards ex gratia assistance is left to the wisdom of the national authority which may consider determining the amount taking into consideration the observations made…,” it said.
