An outer view of Bombay High Court.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday (December 23, 2025) directed the Maharashtra government to grant the ₹50 lakh ex gratia insurance benefit to the family of a contractual data entry operator who died of COVID-19 after serving on pandemic duty, ruling that the date of contracting the infection—not the date of death—should determine eligibility under the scheme.
A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and Ajit B. Kadethankar quashed a May 24, 2022 order of the Public Health Department rejecting the claim of petitioner Ramesh Balu Patil, whose wife Sarita Patil died on July 4, 2021. The State had denied the benefit on the ground that the scheme was operational only till June 30, 2021.
Petitioner’s counsel N.B. Khaire argued that Sarita Patil contracted COVID-19 while discharging official duties at a Primary Health Centre under the National Rural Health Mission, “It is not in dispute that late Sarita Ramesh Patil was in the service of State Government and was discharging duties concerning Covid patients when she suffered Covid infection. Although she expired after 30th June 2021, she was infected prior to that date. The scheme is benevolent and should not be applied with technical rigidity.”
Opposing the plea, Assistant Government Pleader (AGP) Tejas J. Kapre contended, “The insurance cover and ex gratia assistance was a scheme introduced and made operational for a specific period only. Confining the scheme to that period is a policy decision of the State Government. The authority concerned was justified in discarding the petitioner’s claim.”
Rejecting the State’s stand, the Bench observed, “It is not the date of death, but the date of contracting Covid-19 infection which is material for grant of insurance coverage under the Government Resolution dated 29th May 2020 read with Government Resolution dated 14th May 2021.”
On the State’s argument that contractual employees were excluded, the judges said, “Agony and pains of family members of a Covid fighter are the same, irrespective of the nature of employment. Discarding a claim on the ground that the deceased employee was merely an outsourced contractual employee would defeat the very purpose of the scheme.”
The court invoked constitutional principles of fairness and societal gratitude, “To deny or restrict the relief to those who passed away after 30th June 2021 would be contrary to the values of justice, fairness, and dignity which animate our constitutional order, and also contrary to public conscience and societal gratitude.”
It further stressed the moral imperative behind the scheme, “The hardships faced by these workers and their families during the pandemic were immense and deserve recognition beyond mere symbolic gestures. Monetary benefits granted through a generous interpretation of the GR provide tangible relief to these families.”
The judges added, “Nature of service of a Covid fighter who dies while on duty due to Covid infection is immaterial to apply the benefits of insurance scheme to the family members of such employee. The State must act with sensitivity towards those who have suffered and must not allow procedural rigidity to eclipse substantive justice.”
The court directed the State and the Health Department to process and release the benefit within eight weeks, with assistance from the District Health Officer, Kolhapur.
Published – December 24, 2025 03:55 am IST