Pulling up the Maharashtra government for rejecting offline applications for compensation, the Supreme Court on Friday made it clear that no state government can reject offline application for ex-gratia compensation to family members of Covid-19 victims.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna noted that the Maharashtra government has rejected over 61,000 applications out of 2.27 Lakh applications received in connection with Covid compensation.” No offline application can be rejected as “some applications were rejected on the ground that they were filed offline. Such a rejection is deprecated and it is in teeth of the order passed by the court”, said the bench.

The bench asked the Maharashtra government counsel, how can a poor person file an online application? It further told the counsel, “You are not doing charity. As a welfare state, it is their duty. Why are you sending people from pillar to post…”

The top court said all states have to accept applications on merit, whether offline or online and if any government were to reject an offline application, then it will bring on record a reason for rejection within a week and give an opportunity to persons to rectify errors.

During the hearing, the bench emphasized that states should make all endeavours to pay the compensation within a maximum period of 10 days from the receipt of the application seeking claim.

The top court also directed all state governments and union territories (UTs) to appoint a dedicated nodal officer to coordinate with the member secretary of the state legal service authority (SLSA) to facilitate payment of ex-gratia compensation.

The bench directed the state governments to give full particulars like name, address and death certificate to the concerned SLSA. It further added that they should also provide complete information on orphans, within one week and directed states to appoint a dedicated officer, not below the rank of deputy secretary in Chief Minister Secretariat, who will be in constant touch with the member secretary of the state legal service authority.

“We direct all the state governments to give full particulars including their name, address, death certificate, etc. to the concerned state legal service authority, including orphans within one week from today…,” said the bench.

The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on March 7.

The top court was hearing a matter filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, where it is monitoring the disbursal of Rs 50,000 ex-gratia for Covid-19 deaths.