₹4 lakh per bereavement, the court left this part to the Centre, which sought to wriggle out of paying any money at all by arguing that this law’s relief was meant for one-time events such as cyclones and quakes and not for a prolonged pandemic.
In a brazen attempt to twist not just the spirit but also the letter of the Act, the government tried to have the word “shall" in its Section 12 interpreted as “may", which would have allowed it the option of using public funds for aid offered in kind—such as grain rations—instead of cash.
Since the pandemic had already been notified as a “disaster" under the DMA, ruled the court, there was no escape from a monetary obligation to its victims.