Tue Dec 23 22:25:00 UTC 2025: Summary:

The Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that the Maharashtra government must provide the ₹50 lakh ex gratia insurance benefit to the family of a data entry operator who died of COVID-19 after serving on pandemic duty. The court rejected the government’s argument that the scheme was only operational until June 30, 2021, stating that the date of contracting the infection, not the date of death, determines eligibility. The court also emphasized that contractual employees should not be excluded from the scheme, as their families face the same hardships. The court directed the state to process and release the benefit within eight weeks.

News Article:

Bombay High Court Orders COVID-19 Insurance for Family of Contractual Worker

Mumbai, December 24, 2025 – The Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to pay ₹50 lakh in ex gratia insurance to the family of Sarita Patil, a contractual data entry operator who died of COVID-19 after working on pandemic duty. The ruling came after the government rejected the family’s claim, citing that the compensation scheme was only in effect until June 30, 2021. Patil contracted the virus before this date but passed away after.

Justices M.S. Karnik and Ajit B. Kadethankar quashed the government’s order, emphasizing that the date of infection, not the date of death, should determine eligibility. The court also rejected the argument that contractual employees should be excluded, highlighting that the families of all COVID-19 frontline workers, regardless of employment status, deserve support.

“Agony and pains of family members of a Covid fighter are the same, irrespective of the nature of employment,” the bench stated. “To deny or restrict the relief to those who passed away after 30th June 2021 would be contrary to the values of justice, fairness, and dignity which animate our constitutional order, and also contrary to public conscience and societal gratitude.”

The court further underscored the moral imperative to support the families of frontline workers who sacrificed their health during the pandemic. The state government has been given eight weeks to process and release the benefit to the Patil family. This ruling is expected to have broader implications for other families of contractual workers who died after contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic.

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