Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment in a plea concerning the Central Government's insurance coverage scheme for doctors who lost their lives due to COVID-19 during the pandemic. The matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan, which made significant observations emphasising the duty of the State to protect those who served during the pandemic crisis.

During the hearing, Justice Narasimha underscored the immense contribution of medical professionals in combating the pandemic, remarking, “Society will not forgive us if we don't take care of our doctors.” The Bench was dealing with the question of eligibility under the government's insurance scheme, particularly in cases where doctors were not officially on government duty but continued to serve patients during the pandemic.

Addressing Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, Justice Narasimha observed that the government must ensure that insurance companies honour valid claims. “You should compel the insurance company to pay if according to you the condition is met that they were on COVID response and they died because of COVID. Merely because they were not in government duty, the assumption that they were making profits and sitting idle is not correct,” the judge remarked.

The Court clarified that it would not adjudicate individual claims but would instead lay down broad principles to guide the implementation of the insurance scheme. “We will not go into individual claims. We will just lay down the principles,” Justice Narasimha said, adding that the criteria would focus on whether the deceased doctor was actively engaged in medical service and whether death was a result of COVID-19 infection.

“That the said doctor volunteered to offer his medical services by keeping his clinic or hospital open for patients to consult him must be proved by way of some credible evidence,” the Bench said.

"There must also be proof about the fact that the doctor has passed away because of being infected by COVID.Once these two questions as satisfied, it is not for us to question as to whether the doctor has opened his clinic or offered his services for COVID alone," Justice Narasimha explained.

Justice Narasimha also directed the Centre to provide relevant data and information regarding other similar or parallel schemes available apart from the Pradhan Mantri Insurance Scheme. “Give the data to us and some information about other parallel schemes that are available apart from the present Pradhan Mantri scheme. We will lay down the principle and on that basis claims can be made to the insurance company. It is for the insurance company to consider and pass orders on the basis of our judgment,” the Bench said.

Concluding the hearing, Justice Narasimha said, “It will be disposed of as per our judgment.”