The Supreme Court summoned the Chief Secretary of Bihar, said- you are not above the law

The Supreme Court has summoned the Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar for non-payment of ex-gratia amount to the kin of the victims of Corona despite the court’s earlier orders. The court has asked the chief secretaries of both the states to appear before it through a virtual hearing at 2 pm on Wednesday.

A bench of Justices MR Shah and Sanjiv Khanna asked the chief secretaries to be present before the court at 2 pm via video conference. “They are not above the law. Ask them to be present at 2 pm,” the court ordered. The order was passed on a petition relating to payment of ex-gratia compensation of ₹4 lakh to the family members of those who succumbed to COVID-19 but were not paid ex-gratia amount.

On June 30, 2021, the apex court had ordered the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to frame guidelines for payment of ex-gratia compensation to the family members of persons who succumbed to COVID-19. The Court left it to the discretion of the NDMA to decide the amount to be provided as ex-gratia assistance.

Following this, the central government had filed an affidavit before the apex court stating that it has recommended a compensation of Rs 50,000 for each person who died of COVID-19. The court had accepted the Centre’s argument in October 2021 that ₹50,000 would be paid to the next of kin of the deceased.

In an order passed last year, the court had said, “An amount of Rs 50,000 will be paid to the next of kin of the deceased and this will be more than the amount paid by the Center and the state under various philanthropic schemes. Meanwhile, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh While hearing the complaints regarding the governments, the top court has summoned the chief secretaries of both the states.