Society will not forgive us if we don't take care of our doctors," bench warns, rejecting profit-motive exclusions for private setups.
Seeks ₹50 lakh for non-govt clinic deaths; court to frame principles for claims, directs govt data on alternatives.
Judgment reserved; focuses on proof of service and COVID causation, not clinic type, to honor pandemic warriors' families.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared that "society will not forgive the judiciary if it doesn't take care of doctors and stand for them," while reserving judgment on a plea seeking inclusion of health workers who died from COVID-19 at private clinics, dispensaries, and non-recognized hospitals under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance (PMGKP) scheme. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan stressed the need to ensure insurance companies settle valid claims, rejecting the assumption that private doctors were solely profit-driven during the pandemic.
The bench directed the Centre to provide data on parallel schemes beyond PMGKP, which offered ₹50 lakh coverage as a safety net for COVID frontline workers' families since March 2020. "We will lay down the principle, and on that basis, claims can be made to the insurance company," Justice Narasimha observed, clarifying the court would not adjudicate individual cases but establish eligibility criteria, proof of active medical service and COVID-related death, without questioning clinic operations.
The petition, filed by kin of deceased professionals, challenges exclusions that denied over 1,800 health workers' families benefits, despite their pandemic sacrifices. The court emphasized societal duty to protect doctors, noting the scheme's intent was to safeguard dependents from adversity.
