Mumbai, February 27 The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to pay a compensation of ₹50 lakh to the widow of an employee who died due to COVID-19 in April 2021.
A bench of Justices Makarand Karnik and Shriram Modak, in its February 24 order, a copy of which was made available on Friday, noted that the widow, Sunita Bapu Jagtap, was entitled to compensation.
She had challenged the MSRTC's decisions of January 2022 and March 2023 rejecting her compensation claim, stating that the deceased Bapu Jagtap "was not assigned essential services and he was not the driver involved in interstate transport".
The HC, however, noted that MSRTC had taken a narrow view and "forgot the precarious situation prevailing during the Covid period when no one was ready to go out of the house for discharging their duties".
The court added that the deceased may have contracted the virus while performing his duties.
The HC said that the general public's life came to a standstill, and public services, including transport, were kept open for limited services.
"It was part of the husband's duty to attend his job, which he did at the risk of his life," the bench noted.
The MSRTC cannot avoid its responsibility, the HC said, while directing it to pay ₹50 lakh as compensation to the petitioner.
Jagtap was stationed at the BEST bus depot in Wadala to supervise traffic, and worked there from March 24 to March 28, 2021.
After falling ill, he took leave from March 29 to March 31 and returned to Manmad in Nashik district.
He received treatment at a local dispensary and tested positive for COVID-19 on April 5, 2021. He passed away two days later at the Sub-District Hospital in Yevala, Nashik district, due to COVID-related pneumonia.