Madhya Pradesh HC Imposes ₹1 Lakh Cost On Authorities For Arbitrarily Declining Claim Of Deceased Officer’s Heir Under Mukhyamantri COVID -19 Yoddha Kalyan Yojna
|The Madhya Pradesh High Court imposed a cost of ₹ 1 lakh on authorities for illegally and arbitrarily declining the claim of the legal heir of the deceased Chief Municipal Officer under Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Yoddha Kalyan Yojna.
The Court said that there is no ground to create any artificial & meaningless classification viz-a-viz the death of CMO on the one hand and the deaths of Tahsildar and Deputy Collector on the other hand, who are involved in the same COVID-19 prevention drives.
The Court was hearing a Writ Petition challenging the decision of the Deputy Relief Commissioner who denied benefits under the Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Yoddha Kalyan Yojna to the petitioners, legal heirs of Arun Pateriya who died while serving as Chief Municipal Officer during the second wave.
The bench comprising Justice Raj Mohan Singh and Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh observed, “The impugned orders collectively attached as Annexure P/1 are illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory and are proved to be result of the malafide…This Court finds that the impugned orders are totally illegal and smacks of foul play…but this Court is of the view that the claim of the petitioners has been declined in a totally illegal and arbitrary manner.”
Advocate Akash Choudhary appeared for the Appellant and Government Advocate G.P. Singh appeared for the Respondent.
The Court noted that the competent authority/ Relief Commissioner declined relief solely on the ground that the claim of the petitioners did not align with para 3.1 of the Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Yoddha Kalyan Yojna.
The Court perused paragraph 3.1 of the Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Yoddha Kalyan Yojna, which states that government employees involved in COVID-19 mitigation efforts, such as working in COVID hospitals, care centres, testing labs, quarantine centres, sample collection, investigations, and containment areas, are eligible for benefits.
The Court noted that the deceased, as Chief Municipal Officer, served in containment areas to maintain cleanliness and participated in prevention drives, thereby facing a high risk of COVID-19 contact. The deceased died of COVID-19 while on duty. According to the Court, the petitioners' claim was rejected on flimsy grounds.
The Court also found it very strange that the death of Tahsildar and the Deputy Collector who were involved in prevention drives similar to the CMO is covered under the scheme of Mukhyamantri COVID -19 Yoddha Kalyan Yojna, whereas the case of Shri Arun Pateriya has been isolated.
“In those trying days, when the second wave of Coronavirus was at its peak, there were so many factors that were responsible for spreading of Covid. Even A - symptomatic person created havoc in surrounding areas.”, the Court noted.
Accordingly, the Court noted that the claim of the petitioners has been declined in a totally illegal and arbitrary manner.
Finally, the Court allowed the Writ Petition.
Cause Title: Rajlaxmi Sharma v. State of Madhya Pradesh