New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) A PIL was on Friday moved in the Delhi High Court seeking payment of Rs one crore as ex-gratia to the family of each judicial member who succumbed to COVID-19 and to declare all of them as 'frontline warriors".

The plea by a lawyer also seeks collating of the details of the staff of the subordinate courts and of the high court who have lost their lives due to COVID-19, while performing their duties and to pay their families Rs 50 lakh as ex-gratia relief.

The petition by advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir is listed for hearing on May 10 before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh.

The petition also states that a considerable number of officers of the lower judiciary, court staff and Registry officials "are further undergoing a harrowing experience" of not being able to meet the medical expenses of their near and dear ones and also the loss of their immediate relatives.

It contended that while the Delhi government has from time to time extended compensatory relief to the family of public officers and employees who died while discharging their duties at the frontline against COVID-19, no such steps have been taken with regard to judicial officers, court staff, and registry officials who contributed to the justice delivery system at tremendous cost to their lives and health.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)