Bombay HC directs MSRTC to pay Rs 50 lakh to widow of employee who died of Covid-19 while on duty

NEW DELHI: The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to pay Rs 50 lakh compensation 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 an order dated February 24, said the widow, Sunita Bapu Jagtap, was entitled to compensation. Sunita Jagtap had challenged MSRTC’s decisions of January 2022 and March 2023, rejecting her claim. The corporation had said her husband, Bapu Jagtap, was not assigned essential services and was not a driver involved in interstate transport.The High Court said MSRTC had taken a narrow view. It noted the difficult situation during the Covid period, when people were afraid to step out for work. The court said the deceased could have contracted the virus while performing his duty.The court observed that public life had come to a standstill during the pandemic, but limited public services, including transport, continued.“It was part of the duty of the husband of the petitioner to attend the job, which he had done at the risk of his life,” the bench said.The court held that MSRTC cannot avoid its responsibility and directed it to pay Rs 50 lakh to the petitioner.Bapu Jagtap was posted at the BEST bus depot in Wadala, where he supervised traffic from March 24 to March 28, 2021.