COVID Deaths- Hospitals Should Provide All Documents To Family Of Deceased As & When Demanded : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday directed all hospitals which provided treatment to Cvid patients to provide all necessary documents of treatment etc. A Bench comprising Justice MR Shah and Justice AS Bopanna has clarified that if any hospital or the place where the deceased had taken treatment refuses to furnish such documents, the Grievance Redressal Committee can call for such information and the particulars as required for purpose of establishing that the death was due to Covid-19 will have to be furnished. Amount Be Disbursed Within 30 Days From Application: The Court has directed that the ex-gratia assistance will be disbursed within a period of 30 days from the date of submitting the application to the District Administration along with the proof of the death of the deceased due to Covid-19 and the cause of death being certified as "Died due to Covid-19". Ex gratia Compensation Can't Be Denied Solely On Grounds Of Cause of Death Not Mentioned As 'Died Due To Covid': The Court has observed that no States will deny the ex-gratia assistance of Rs.50,000 to the next of the kin of the deceased who died due to Covid-19 solely on the ground that in the death certificate issued by the appropriate authority, the cause of death is not mentioned as "Died due to Covid-19". 50,000/- on the ground that in the death certificate the cause of death is not mentioned as "Died due to Covid-19" The NDMA framed the guidelines for grant of compensation for COVID deaths following the directions issued by the Supreme Court in its June 30 judgment in the PILs filed by Reepak Kansal and Gaurav Kumar Bansal.