Woman Moves Delhi High Court Over Compensation For Husband's Death

A woman moves Delhi High Court over a compensation of Rs 1 crore for her husband's death.

The woman claimed that her husband was posted in with the Centralized Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, last year. She said that the Delhi government had denied giving her compensation of Rs 1 crore. This compensation was announced by the Delhi government, for all those who died, while being on pandemic duty.

Justice Rekha Palli subsequently issued a notice to the Delhi government and sought its stand with regards to the woman's plea.

Woman's husband was on COVID duty for more than 2 months

According to an office note of the CATS, the woman's husband was discharging COVID-19 duties, but the Revenue department didn't uphold this view. It reportedly rejected the proposal for a recommendation of payment of the compensation money.

In the plea, the woman stated that her late husband was an Accounts Officer in the Delhi Subordinate Accounts Service Cadre. He was subsequently sent on deputation to CATS three years ago, i.e, 2018.

When the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, he was then posted as an Administrative Officer and Head of Office at CATS, besides his normal duties as a disbursement officer. He was in this position from February 8 to April 20, 2020. However, his wife's petition has claimed that he was discharging COVID duties, even after April 20.

Her husband then subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 in June last year, and he died the next month, in July 2020.

Karnataka High Court Seeks compensation for Public Servants

Recently, a High Court in Karnataka sought compensation for all the public servants who died on COVID duty, during the byelections of the Legislative Assembly, the Lok Sabha and the elections to urban local bodies. It had issued a notice regarding the matter to the election commission, and the state government.