A special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah said that the court cannot direct the Centre to fix a particular amount of financial help but the government can fix the minimum standard of amount to be paid as ex-gratia to family members of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19 while keeping various aspects in mind.

The top court asked the Centre to consider formulating an insurance scheme for cremation workers as proposed by the Finance Commission.
It also directs the authorities to issue appropriate guidelines for simplification of process of issuance of death certificates for Covid fatalities.