The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the city government to release Rs 1 crore as ex-gratia within four weeks to the family of a police constable who died after contracting COVID-19 while performing his duties in 2020. It was done.
Justice Prathiba M Singh said that under an order passed by the Delhi government on November 3, compensation was paid to the wife and father of deceased constable Amit Kumar.
“The amount in terms of the order will be released in four weeks,” the court ordered.
In the order, the government approved the release of Rs 60 lakh and Rs 40 lakh respectively to the wife and father of the deceased in terms of the Cabinet decision dated May 13, 2020.
Advocate Arun Panwar, appearing for the Delhi government, said that the officials will follow the instructions.
The high court was hearing a plea by Kumar’s wife, who said her husband died on May 5, 2020 when she was expecting a child. Kumar, a young constable of Delhi Police, was deployed at Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital to ensure adherence to COVID-19 lockdown measures.
In December 2022, the high court had asked the authorities to take a decision on payment of compensation of Rs 1 crore to the constable’s family and said the city government should not go back from the clear declaration made for the ex-gratia payment.
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Hearing the petition by the deceased’s wife, the high court had earlier said that there was “clear communication” by the officials and press clippings, which left no doubt that the ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 crore was announced. Family by Delhi Govt.
The petitioner had said that Delhi Police personnel were to be deployed for COVID-19 duty across the city as per the orders issued by the Delhi government during the pandemic and hence it cannot be argued by the respondents that the deceased was infected with COVID-19. -19 Was not on duty.
In the petition, the wife said she ran from pillar to post to secure the compensation promised by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet on May 7, 2020, after the death of her husband, who was the sole breadwinner of the family. .
The petition referred to Kejriwal’s tweet, which said, “Amitji (constable) did not care about his life and we continued to serve the people of Delhi. He got infected with Corona and died. I pay tribute to him on behalf of all Delhiites. On behalf of his family.” An ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 crore will be given.”
The woman said her husband was the first person in the police force to die of COVID-19 and she had two children to care for.
Tags: COVID19 Delhi High Court directs release compensation crore family deceased constable
