The Supreme Court said on Monday that it never expected morality to dive to the point where false allegations are being made to steal aid meant to help families who have lost loved ones and breadwinners to COVID-19.
“Nobody anticipated someone to go to such lengths… Have morals sunk so low that fraudulent claims for [compensation for COVID fatalities] will be produced as well? And if any officers are implicated, it’s a major problem “Justice M.R. Shah, who presided over a Bench that included Justice B.V. Nagarathna, issued a warning.
Moots a high-level investigation: Supreme court suggested
The Bench of the Supreme court suggested that the Comptroller and Auditor General conduct a high-level investigation. The court’s views were based on a plea by Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Centre and the State of Gujarat, alleging cases of bogus death certificates being used to claim ex gratia compensation for the family of COVID-19 pandemic victims.
As a welfare measure, the families of individuals who died of COVID-19 are given financial relief of $50,000. The court had led the initiative and approved a plan to distribute ex gratia support to families who could present papers to the authorities, such as RT-PCR test results and death certificates. The States provided the funding for the aid from their separate disaster relief funds.
Gaurav Kumar Bansal, the petitioner, brought the Supreme court’s attention to Section 52 of the Disaster Management Act, which deals with false claims. Making a fraudulent claim carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine if found guilty.
‘It’s not a never-ending phenomenon’
Mr. Mehta further stated that the procedure of reparation payment could not be an endless one. It had to come to an end at some point. He urged the court to set a deadline for filing claims for compensation. Mr. Mehta stated, “The process cannot carry on indefinitely.” The court ordered Mr. Mehta to prepare an adequate application, citing both the issue of bogus claims and the need to set a timetable for ex gratia aid payout.
Meanwhile, the Supreme court stressed that a monetary award of $50,000 should be made “per death.” The clarification came after the Assam government questioned the court if each family member of a COVID-19 victim should be granted 50,000 dollars separately.