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Gaurav Kumar Bansal v. Union of India (with Reepak Kansal v. Union of India)

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 318Decided 30 Jun 2021
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 554 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

Two public-interest writ petitions were filed seeking a direction to the Central and State Governments to pay ex-gratia compensation of Rs. 4 lakh to the families of persons who died of Covid-19, relying on Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, since Covid-19 had been declared a "notified disaster." One petition also sought a direction that official death certificates clearly record Covid-19 as the cause of death, and the other sought social security/insurance cover for Covid-19 victims' families. The Union of India opposed a fixed compensation amount, citing fiscal constraints and competing demands on disaster-relief funds.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that while Section 12 of the DMA 2005 uses the mandatory word "shall," it only obliges the National Disaster Management Authority to recommend guidelines for minimum standards of relief including ex-gratia assistance: it does not empower courts to dictate a specific rupee amount, which is a policy choice for the National Authority/Central Government taking its overall financial priorities into account. The Court therefore directed the NDMA to frame guidelines for ex-gratia assistance for Covid-19 deaths within six weeks, rejecting the plea that financial constraints could be used as an excuse to avoid the statutory obligation entirely. It also directed the Central Government to issue simplified, uniform guidelines so death certificates accurately record "Death due to Covid-19," with a correction mechanism for families who disagree with the recorded cause of death, and asked the Union to consider the Fifteenth Finance Commission's insurance recommendations and cover left-out categories such as those handling the deceased.

Lesson Learnt

Courts can compel the government to perform a statutory duty (here, framing compensation guidelines) but generally will not fix the compensation amount itself when the statute leaves that to executive discretion: citizens affected by a disaster have a right to a scheme, even if the exact sum is set by the government rather than the court.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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