Prayagraj, 8 December (Daily Kiran) – The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a positive COVID-19 test report issued by a Uttar Pradesh COVID lab must be considered valid unless proven to be fake. This decision came in a petition filed by a woman seeking compensation for her husband, who died after contracting COVID-19 while on duty during the 2021 Panchayat elections.
The petitioner’s husband was admitted to a government hospital in Etawah with high fever and COVID-like symptoms. He was advised to undergo a COVID-19 test, which came back positive, but he later passed away. The petitioner applied for compensation under a government order dated 1 June 2021 that provides Rs 30 lakh to employees who die within a month of election duty.
Her claim was initially rejected on the grounds that no COVID test was conducted and no report was available to support her case. Challenging this, the petitioner approached the High Court.
A bench comprising Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swaroopma Chaturvedi noted that although the respondents claimed no COVID test had been conducted, a report from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Combined Hospital (Male), Etawah, confirming the deceased as COVID positive, was available on record. The court observed that two doctors had refused to sign the report but did not deny its existence or call it forged.
The court also pointed out that the doctors were present only when the report was prepared and did not deny that the deceased was a patient at the hospital. The respondents did not dispute the case ID in their affidavit. Since the antigen retest slip was computer-generated by the UP COVID lab and did not require a doctor’s signature, its lack of signature did not make it a forged document.
The court held that since the patient’s details were already recorded, the respondents should have verified the claim with the hospital before rejecting the petitioner’s compensation request. As a result, the court set aside the order denying compensation and directed the government to reconsider the petitioner’s claim.
(Daily Kiran) / Ramanand Pandey
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