Pay ₹1 cr. to wife of school principal who died on COVID-19 duty: HC to Delhi govt.

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to release an ex gratia of ₹1 crore to the wife of a government school principal who succumbed to COVID-19 while on duty during the second wave of the pandemic in  2021.

A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on Thursday observed, “We have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the unfortunate demise of the husband of the appellant was caused on account of contracting the virus while discharging COVID-19 duties”.

“While examining applications under beneficial policies, a narrow and pedantic view ought to be completely avoided,” the Bench added.

The court directed the Delhi government to complete the payment within eight weeks as per a Cabinet decision of May 13, 2020. The order came on an appeal filed by Girija Devi, through advocate Raja Choudhary, challenging a single-judge Bench order of November 28, 2024, rejecting her demand for compensation under a government scheme.

The appellant’s husband, Shivnath Prasad, had joined government service as an assistant teacher in 1993 and was serving as the principal of the MCD Primary Boys’ School, Nithari, at the time of the pandemic.

The petitioner stated that Prasad was deployed for various COVID-19-related duties, including supervising vaccination activities at the school. He tested positive for COVID-19 on April 24, 2021, and died three days later.

Appeal rejected earlier

Ms. Devi had applied for the ₹1 crore ex gratia announced under the Delhi government’s scheme for frontline workers who lost their lives while performing COVID-19 duties.

However, her claim was rejected by the Revenue Department in December 2021 on the grounds that her late husband had not been “specifically deployed” on COVID-19 duty and was on “regular duty” at the time of getting infected with the virus. A single-judge Bench of the High Court upheld the rejection in November 2024.