The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the District Magistrate Bijnor to decide on paying compensation to the petitioner within a month in case of death due to Covid in election duty after considering all the aspects under the government mandate.
The Division Bench of Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Girish Kumar.
The contention of the petitioner is that his wife who was working as ‘Shiksha Mitra’ and was assigned election duties in the panchayat elections 2021 died on account of Covid-19 on May 2, 2021.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that he has made a representation to the District Magistrate, Bijnor seeking the benefit of the Government Order dated June 01, 2021, which provides for the grant of ex-gratia payment to the victims of Covid-19 Pandemic.
The counsel further submitted that although he has represented to the DM concerned but no action has yet been taken by the DM on his application and he has not been released any ex-gratia payment.
The State Counsel submitted that no useful purpose would be served in keeping the petition pending and appropriate directions may be issued to the District Magistrate concerned, who may decide the claim of the petitioner.
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“In this view of the matter, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the petition is disposed of directing the District Magistrate Bijnor to consider the pending application of the petitioner for grant of ex-gratia payment under the Government Order dated June 01, 2021 and pass appropriate orders as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of one month from the date of production of certified copy of the order considering all the aspects of the case in accordance with law,”
-the Court ordered.