Jai Prakash Narayan vs The State of Bihar
- Court
- Patna High Court
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.9460 of 2024
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Jai Prakash Narayan Son of Late Raghunath Prasad Resident of Kisan Colony,
Phase No. II, House No. K2/58, P.S- Phulwari Shariff, District- Patna.
... ... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through Chief Secretary Government of Bihar, Patna.
2. Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department Government of Bihar Patna
Ist Floor, Vikas Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna.
3. District Magistrate, Saran at Chapra.
4. Civil Surgeon cum Chief Medical Officer, Saran at Chapra
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Dhananjai Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr.Advocate General
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALOK KUMAR
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 11-09-2026
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the
learned counsel for the State.
2. In the instant writ petition, the petitioner has
prayed for the following relief(s):
“I. For Commanding and Directing the
Respondents to ensure payment of Ex-Gratia
amount of Rs.4,00,000/- (Four Lakhs) to Petitioner,
in respect of death of his father due to Covid-19
Virus.
II. For holding that, Petitioner is entitled to
the payment of Ex-Gratia amount in the light of the
notification by State Government as well as in the
light of guideline issued by this Hon'ble Court as
well as Hon'ble Apex Court.
Patna High Court CWJC No.9460 of 2024 dt.11-09-2026
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III. For considering that, Petitioner has been
subjected to discrimination at the hands of
Respondents, despite being entitled for payment of
such ex-Gratia amount.
IV. For also considering that, Petitioner has
been running from pillar to post for payment of the
Ex-Gratia amount before Respondents for which he
is legally entitled.
V. For any other relief(s) for which the
Petitioner is found entitled in the eye of law.”
3. The petitioner is aggrieved by non-payment of
ex-gratia compensation claimed on account of the death of his
father, allegedly due to Covid-19, the claim having been
rejected by the three-member District Enquiry Committee on the
ground that no Covid-19 test (RT-PCR/Antigen/TrueNat) was
conducted and that the material on record did not establish that
the death occurred on account of Covid-19.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that
the father of the petitioner was admitted to Sanskar Hospital,
Bhagwan Bazar, Chapra on the advice of doctors after Sadar
Hospital, Chapra expressed its inability to admit him, and on
tests conducted at Ankita Diagnostic Centre and Sri Ram M.R.I.
Scan Centre, Chapra, it was detected that he was severely
infected with the Corona Virus, in the course of which treatment
he died on 07.05.2021, and the concerned hospital refused to
Patna High Court CWJC No.9460 of 2024 dt.11-09-2026
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issue a discharge certificate.
5. The counsel for the petitioner further submitted
that, the petitioner repeatedly filed representations dated
12.06.2021, 15.06.2021, 03.10.2023 and 18.10.2023 before the
Civil Surgeon-cum-Chief Medical Officer, Chapra, the District
Magistrate, Saran and the Additional Chief Secretary, Health
Department, along with all relevant documents, but the
respondents have failed to consider his bona fide grievance.
6. Learned counsel for the State, submitted that as
per the report of the District Epidemiologist, I.D.S.P., Saran
dated 08.07.2024 and the report of the three-member Enquiry
Committee, the petitioner neither submitted the
registration/medical prescription of Sadar Hospital, Chapra, nor
was any RT-PCR/Antigen/TrueNat test conducted on the
deceased; the claim rests only on a CT-Scan report obtained
from a private institution, which does not confirm Covid-19
infection.
7. Learned counsel for the State further submitted
that, the prescription of Sanskar Hospital does not disclose any
infection or apprehension of Covid-19, and the Death Certificate
records the place of death as the residence of the deceased and
not the hospital; the three-member Enquiry Committee, after
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considering all material on record, rejected the claim on
30.07.2021, and the writ petition is devoid of merit.
8. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and
perused the record, this Court finds that, unlike cases where the
fact of death due to Covid-19 is not disputed and rejection rests
purely on the technical ground of an unauthorised laboratory,
the material on record here raises a genuine dispute as to the
foundational fact itself: no RT-PCR/Antigen/TrueNat test was
conducted, the treating hospital's own prescription is silent on
Covid-19 infection, and the Death Certificate records the place
of death as the deceased's residence and not the hospital.
9. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of
Gaurav Kumar Bansal v. Union of India & Anr. reported in
2021 SCC OnLine SC 3384 (Miscellaneous Application No.
1120 of 2021 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 539 of 2021) has held
that absence of a formal Covid-19 test report is not, by itself,
conclusive, and the State cannot deny ex-gratia assistance solely
on such technical grounds where other requisite documents
otherwise establish the claimant's eligibility. The said principle,
however, presupposes the existence of reliable corroborative
material establishing that death occurred on account of Covid-
19, which, on the facts noted above, does not stand
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demonstrated before the Committee.
10. The claimant must establish that the victim had
contracted COVID-19 by placing on record the relevant
COVID-19 test report or a COVID-19 death certificate in
support of the claim.
11. In view of the aforesaid, I find no merit in the
case.
12. Accordingly, the present Writ petition is
dismissed.
(Alok Kumar, J)
Manish Kumar
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE 25.08.2026
Uploading Date 11.09.2026
Transmission Date NA