Can't give Rs. 4 lakh compensation to every Covid victims' kin: Centre tells Supreme Court

In a 183-page affidavit, the Centre said that states cannot afford to pay Rs. 4 lakh to every victim.

The government also added that denying compensation for diseases other than Covid would be "unfair".

The centre added that the deadly disease has caused more than 3.85 lakh deaths - which is likely to increase.

It said that states, reeling under a severe financial strain, cannot pay everyone.

The government's response comes after the apex court asked it to inform its policy on Covid compensation and death certificates after a plea asked for Rs. 4 lakh for victims.

In its affidavit, the Centre also said due to increased health expenses and low tax revenue, states cannot afford to pay compensation for lakhs of Covid victims.

"Utilisation of scarce resources for giving ex-gratia, may have unfortunate consequences of affecting the pandemic response and health expenditure in other aspects and hence cause more damage than good," the centre added in its affidavit.

The government also reminded the top court of its earlier judgment to keep away from executive policies.

"It is well settled through numerous judgements of the Supreme Court that this is a matter which should be performed by the authority, to whom it has been entrusted and not one where the court will substitute its own judgement for the decision to be taken by the executive," the government said.

The Supreme Court will hear the case on Monday.