In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has directed the city government to release an ex-gratia compensation of ₹1 crore to Girija Devi, widow of a school principal who succumbed to Covid-19 in April 2021. The court held that the late Shivnath Prasad, then Principal of MCD Primary Boys School, Nithari, was indeed engaged in Covid-related duties when he contracted the virus.
Background
Prasad, who had joined the Delhi government service as an Assistant Teacher in 1993, was heading the Nithari school during the pandemic. On 25 March 2020, a nationwide lockdown was announced, and the Delhi cabinet soon rolled out a scheme promising ₹1 crore to families of government employees who died on Covid duty.
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Girija Devi applied for the relief after her husband tested positive on 24 April 2021 and passed away four days later in Pitampura's Navjeevan Hospital. But her application was rejected in December 2021, with officials insisting that Prasad was on "regular duty" rather than deployed for pandemic work.
Court's Observations
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, writing for the bench also comprising Chief Justice Devender Kumar Upadhyay, took a different view. The Judges emphasized that the Principal's role during the pandemic could not be narrowly defined.
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"The head of the institution, supervising vaccination duties and exposed daily to infection, cannot be kept outside the scope of Covid duty," the court remarked.
The bench noted that the school itself had been involved in facilitating vaccinations and related pandemic tasks, and Prasad’s presence was integral.
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The judges also referred to earlier decisions, stressing that welfare schemes must be interpreted generously rather than with "narrow and pedantic" approaches.
Citing the Supreme Court's doctrine of purposive interpretation, Justice Gedela observed,
"It would be illogical to expect a Principal to assign Covid duties to others while assuming he himself faced no exposure."
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Decision
The court set aside the single judge's earlier order of November 2024, which had dismissed the widow's claim. It directed the Delhi government to process the compensation within eight weeks, making it clear that any delay would attract 6% annual interest.
With this, the bench restored relief under the cabinet's 2020 decision and underscored the principle that benevolent schemes during a health crisis must be applied with compassion.
The order closes the matter, ensuring Girija Devi's entitlement to the ex-gratia payout stands recognized.
Case Title: Girija Devi vs The State of GNCT of Delhi Through Its Chief Secretary & Ors.
Case No.: LPA 45/2025 & CM APPL. 3201/2025
