CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has set aside an order of the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) directing the payment of Rs 50 lakh compensation to the family of a Bhubaneswar-based civil servant, holding that he did not qualify as a “Covid warrior” under the state’s ex gratia scheme.
A single bench of Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi allowed a writ petition filed by the state government challenging the OHRC’s May 27, 2024 recommendation in favor of Sujata Singh, whose husband Sanjib Kumar Das died of Covid-19 in June 2021.
Das was engaged by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation between May 5 and May 19, 2021, to feed stray animals during the lockdown. The corporation later claimed that he had been disaffiliated with effect from May 16, 2021.
He developed Covid-like symptoms on May 17, tested positive on May 27 and died on June 3 of that year.
The OHRC had stated that since he tested positive within 14 days of his last day of work, he fell within state guidelines and recommended compensation. However, the Supreme Court disagreed, pointing out that the scheme requires a direct link between the assigned duty and the management of Covid-19.
