In a big win for a Covid-affected family, the Delhi High Court has directed the state government to pay Rs 1 crore as ex gratia compensation to the widow of a school principal who lost his life after contracting Covid-19 while supervising vaccination work at his institution. The amount must be released within eight weeks. A bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela underlined that the government’s Covid compensation policy was created as a welfare measure for families of those who died while performing essential duties during the pandemic, reported Hindustan Times.

Widow’s Fight for Justice

The widow had challenged a November 2024 order by a single judge that had denied her claim on the ground that her husband was not on Covid duty in April 2021. She argued that his school was a designated vaccination centre, and as principal, he was directly responsible for assigning and overseeing pandemic-related duties. Her plea had first been rejected in December 2021, with authorities insisting that her husband had died while carrying out ‘regular duties’ rather than Covid duty.

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Court Confirms Principal Was on Covid Duty

The division bench reviewed an official letter from the school that confirmed his deployment for vaccination responsibilities. It concluded that he was not only required to be present but also had to oversee the functioning of staff as the head of the institution. The judges stressed that his role clearly fell within the scope of Covid-related duties.

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Wider View of Pandemic Sacrifices

The court observed that the coronavirus kept mutating and posed unprecedented challenges even to the best medical experts worldwide. It stated that such realities must be kept in mind and that applications under beneficial policies should never be examined with a narrow or overly technical approach.

The judges reiterated that the 2020 Delhi government policy was designed to extend relief to families of those who died in the line of duty during the pandemic. They made it clear that the widow’s case deserved the protection and benefits of that policy.