From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted the Centre to conduct an inquiry into the fake claims of ex-gratia compensation by families who lost their kins due to Covid-19 and set a deadline of 60 days to all eligible on date to apply for the compensation. and 90 days to the future claimants.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna said the government can verify 5 per cent of claims in four states — Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh — where the gap between number of claims and recorded deaths was wide.
The Centre had earlier filed an application seeking a deadline of four weeks for claiming ex gratia payment from authorities on the death of kin due to COVID-19.
The court had earlier expressed concern over fake claims for getting ex gratia compensation of Rs 50,000, meant for family members of those who have lost their lives due to COVID-19, saying it had never visualised that this can be “misused” or thought that the morality has not gone so down.
It had also directed all state governments and Union Territories to appoint a dedicated nodal officer to coordinate with the member secretary of the state legal service authority (SLSA) to facilitate the payment of ex gratia compensation.
