Pradeep Arora & Ors. vs Director, Health Department, Govt. of Maharashtra & Ors.
Background
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to issue containment regulations empowering municipal commissioners to "requisition" the services of doctors and health workers. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation issued a notice in March 2020 directing a private doctor, Dr. Surgade, to keep his dispensary open during lockdown, warning of prosecution for non-compliance. Dr. Surgade later died, and his widow (appellant no. 3) claimed insurance benefits under the PMGKY Scheme for healthcare workers who died while on COVID-19 duty. The claim was rejected on the ground that there was no proof his services were formally "requisitioned," and the Bombay High Court upheld that rejection, distinguishing the NMMC notice (which it saw as merely directing dispensaries to stay open) from a specific requisition order issued to other doctors in May 2020.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court disagreed with the High Court's narrow reading, holding that the compelling emergency circumstances of the pandemic, combined with the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Maharashtra COVID-19 Regulations 2020, the NMMC notice (backed by threat of criminal prosecution under IPC Section 188), the PMGKY Scheme, and related government clarifications/FAQs, together showed that doctors and healthcare professionals, including private practitioners like Dr. Surgade: were indeed "requisitioned" for COVID-19 duty as a class. The Court declined to require a formal individual requisition letter, noting that no such prescribed procedure even existed at the time. However, it clarified that establishing "requisition" only opens the door to a claim, whether a particular deceased doctor actually died while performing COVID-19-related duties remains a separate factual question to be proved by evidence, with the burden on the claimant. The Court modified the High Court's judgment to this extent and directed that individual insurance claims be reconsidered and decided on the evidence.
Lesson Learnt
In emergency public-health situations where the government did not create a formal individual requisitioning process, courts will read executive notifications, regulations and scheme documents together contextually rather than insisting on a single "smoking gun" order, but establishing that a class of workers was requisitioned is only the first step; the claimant must still separately prove with evidence that the specific death occurred while performing the requisitioned duty.