UP farm-accident scheme can pay separate compensation for each eligible parent, Allahabad High Court rules

The petitioner’s mother died at the accident scene on 22 September 2023, and his father died during medical treatment on 27 September 2023.

The petitioner sought compensation under the Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana for each parent.

The District Magistrate allowed the claim concerning the father and ₹5 lakhs was paid, but rejected the claim concerning the mother on the ground that a second claim was not admissible.

The petitioner challenged that rejection.

Whether Clause 7 of the Government Order dated 28 February 2020 bars a legal heir from receiving compensation for the deaths of two separately eligible individuals merely because ₹5 lakhs has already been paid in respect of one of them

Whether the rejection of the petitioner’s claim concerning his mother was sustainable under the scheme

The Court applied the Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana, as set out in the Government Order dated 28 February 2020.

Clause 7(1) provides for adjustment where assistance is received under specified government schemes; Clause 7(2) provides for deduction of specified disaster-related compensation; and Clause 7(3) limits the amount payable under the scheme where benefits under Clauses 7(1) and 7(2) are combined.

The Court construed the scheme as beneficial and held that its provisions should receive full effect unless an express restriction applies; absent such a restriction, compensation is not limited to one parent or one eligible individual.

The Court read Clause 7 as addressing the adjustment and ceiling of benefits received in respect of an individual under other schemes, not as imposing a one-claim limit across separate eligible individuals.

The petitioner’s parents were separately recorded tenure-holders and were each eligible under the scheme.

Since Clause 7 contained no express bar on separate claims for their respective deaths, payment of ₹5 lakhs for the father did not, by itself, disqualify the claim concerning the mother.

It directed the District Magistrate, Sitapur, to reconsider the petitioner’s claim afresh in light of the Court’s observations, preferably within four weeks after production of a certified copy of the order.