Manju Srivastava v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 7653 of 2022 ====================================================== Manju Srivastava Wife of Late Shri Upendra Nath Srivastava Resident of Village and P.O.-Jagarnatha, P.S.-Uchkagaon District-Gopalganj. ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1.

The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Department of Health, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.

2.

The Secretary, Disaster Management Department, Govt. of Bihar. Patna. 3.

The District Magistrate, Gopalganj.

4.

The Civil Surgeon, District Health Society, Govt. of Bihar Gopalganj. 5.

The Medical Officer Incharge, C.H.C., Thawe, Department of Health. Gopalganj.

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Mayank Mohan, Advocate For the Respondent/s :

Mr. Vijay Kumar Singh No. I, AC to SC-18.

====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PURNENDU SINGH ORAL ORDER 02-01-2023 Heard Mr. Mayank Mohan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Vijay Kumar Singh No. 1, learned AC to SC18. The grievance of the petitioner in the present writ petition is that the petitioner who is the wife of the deceased has been denied compensation amount on account of death of her husband due to Covid-19.

Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has submitted all the reports i.e. medical certificate, admission and discharge certificates by the government hospital and pathological test which confirms that her husband died due to Covid-19. However, the application of

Patna High Court CWJC No. 7653 of 2022(2) dt.02-01-2023 2/3 the petitioner has not been entertained by the Civil Surgeon, Gopalganj-respondent no. 4. Learned counsel further submitted that though blood sample for RTPCR test (Antigen test) was taken from husband of petitioner but no report was communicated on the registered mobile phone of her husband who was suffering from Covid-19.

Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State submitted that petitioner can only claim compensation, if the report confirms that the death was due to Covid-19 in terms of government circular then only the petitioner is entitled for compensation.

Considering the rival submissions of the parties, the Civil Surgeon, District Health Society, Goplaganj is directed to hold an enquiry at his level and verify all the documents including Antigen report of the deceased, if it is found that any one of the document confirms the death due to Covid-19 then in that case, in absence of Antigen report, the compensation amount Rs. 4 lakhs cannot be denied in view of the announcement made by the State Government and the ex-gratia amount of Rs. 50,000/-, announced by the Central Government within a period of three weeks.

With above observation and direction, the present writ

Patna High Court CWJC No. 7653 of 2022(2) dt.02-01-2023 3/3 petition is disposed of.

(Purnendu Singh, J) minu/- U T