Supreme Court Expands COVID Insurance to Families of Doctors Who Died on Duty

Overview

• A bench of Justices P. S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan set aside the Bombay High Court ruling that restricted coverage to requisitioned personnel.
• The court held that private practitioners who actively treated patients during the pandemic can qualify even without formal government deployment.
• Claimants bear the onus to prove COVID-related duty and that the death was caused by the infection using credible evidence.
• The court declined to adjudicate individual payouts and directed the Centre to provide data on related schemes and ensure insurers honor valid claims.
• The lead case stemmed from Kiran Bhaskar Surgade’s rejected ₹50 lakh claim for her husband, Dr. B. S. Surgade, which New India Assurance had denied for lack of formal requisition.