Gujarat High Court: In a civil application filed by the wife of a weigh man who passed away due to Covid 19 complications while on duty at the Government Recognised Fair Price Shop, seeking quashing of the impugned communication whereby the State Government refused to grant her financial aid, a Single Judge Bench of Aniruddha P. Mayee, J., allowed the application, holding that the State Government erred in rejecting the petitioner’s application in terms of the resolution concerned despite fulfillment of all the parameters and positive endorsement by three respondent authorities.
Background
The deceased, the petitioner’s husband, was working as a Weigh Man in Pandit Deendayal Grahak Bhandar, Government Recognised Fair Price Shop at Aachhod, Bharuch. The deceased was on emergency duty pursuant to the directives issued by the State Government during the COVID-19 pandemic and was engaged in the distribution of essential commodities on behalf of the State Government during the said period. While on duty, the deceased contracted Covid-19, COVID-19-associated pneumonia and passed away due to complications in 2020.
Soon after, the State Government passed a resolution (‘the resolution’) that those employees who were working in the Government Recognised Fair Price Shops as Weigh Man, Data Entry Operator, and Assistant and those who had passed due to COVID-19 while on duty, their dependent families would be entitled to the financial assistance of Rs. 25 Lakhs.
Accordingly, the petitioner applied for the financial assistance. The Mamlatdar & Executive Magistrate of the taluka concerned also issued the certificate certifying that the deceased was working as a Weigh Man in the Government Recognized Fair Price Shop and had passed away due to COVID-19 complications. In 2023, vide the impugned communication, the said application for financial assistance was rejected.
Aggrieved, the petitioner filed the present application.
Analysis
The Court noted that the resolution also directed all the District Supply Officers (‘DSOs’) to make a list (‘the list’) of such employees who were engaged and employed in the Government Recognised Fair Price Shops in the respective districts during the COVID-19 Pandemic and send it to the State Government along with necessary details of such employees like Aadhar Card, address and date of birth. The Court further noted that the State Government declined the petitioner’s application, despite positive endorsements from three levels of authorities, on the ground that the list was forwarded by the DSO concerned beyond the prescribed time. Thus, the application was not rejected on merits.
Upon perusal of the resolution, the Court stated that the deceased fulfilled all the criteria and that the direction to make the list was an administrative direction and not an essential condition for the grant of financial assistance. The Court held that the State Government erred in rejecting the petitioner’s application in terms of the resolution despite fulfillment of all the parameters laid down in the said resolution, as well as positive endorsement by three respondent authorities. The State erred in rejecting the application in view of the administrative direction that was issued to the respective DSOs of all the districts in the State for extending such benefits. The said administrative direction was not an eligibility condition for the grant of financial assistance.
Further, the Court stated that the petitioner could not be made to suffer for the default on the part of the respondent authorities. The resolution conferred financial benefits as a benevolent resolution acknowledging the contribution of such employees who passed away while performing essential services during the Covid 19 pandemic on behalf of the State Government.
Accordingly, the impugned communication was quashed, and the petitioner was declared to be eligible for a grant of financial assistance of Rs. 25 Lakhs in terms of the resolution. The respondents were directed to grant the financial assistance within six weeks from the date of receipt of this order.
[Tahera Ahmed Patel v. State of Gujarat, Special Civil Application No. 17266 of 2023, decided on 05-05-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the petitioner: Abid R Pathan and Mohammed Sakib Patel
For the respondent: Aditya Pathak, AGP
The Hoble High Court has ensured compensatory justice to the petitioner against the arbitrary denial of compensation. Justice is done to the poor.