HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW WRIT - A No. - 12652 of 2025 Court No. - 18 HON'BLE SHREE PRAKASH SINGH, J. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Ran Vijay Singh, learned counsel for the respondents. Present petition has been filed seeking following reliefs:- "1. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the opposite parties to pay the interest allowed by this Hon'ble Court, on ex-gratia amount paid to the petitioner in lieu of his wife's death during Covid-19 panchayat election 2021 duty, which has not been paid to the petitioner till date. II. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the opposite parties to pay cost Rs. 25000/- which has been allowed by the Hon'ble Court vide judgment and order dated-25-07-2022, passed in writ petition No. 28249 (Writ- C) of 2021, "Kusum Lata Yadav versus State of U.P. and others"." Contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that vide final order dated 2.3.2023 passed in Writ A No.29106 of 2021, Amar Nath Vs. State of U.P. and others, the District Magistrate was directed to make ex-gratia payment as was granted in the case of Kusum Lata Yadav and Indrawati Gupta cases. The order dated 2.3.2023 is quoted as under:- "Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondents. The present petition has been filed challenging the order dated 31.08.2021 passed by opposite party no.6 where by the request of the petitioner for grant of ex-gratia amount on account of death of the wife of the petitioner who died during Covid-19 has been rejected on the ground that the death had occurred after 30 days of the duty. Learned counsel for the petitioner drew my attention to the Judgment of this Court in Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Ashok Kumar Yadava, Balram Yadav, Karm Veer Yadav Counsel for Respondent(s) : C.S.C. Amar Nath .....Petitioner(s) State Of U.P. Thru. Its Addl. Chief Secy. Panchayatiraj Lko. And Another .....Respondent(s) the case of Kusum Lata Yadav vs. State of U.P. and 4 others in Writ-C No.28249 of 2021 decided on 25.07.2022 and the Judgment of this Court in the case of Indrawati Gupta vs. State of U.P. and Ors. in Writ A No.25311 of 2021 decided on 17.02.2023 wherein similar issue was considered by this Court and the Court had issued directions for payment of the claim of the ex-gratia it was held by the Court that claim of the petitioners could not be rejected on the ground that the death had occurred after 30 days of the duty. Thus, following the said Judgments, the impugned order is set aside directing the respondent no.4 to pass a fresh order on the claim of the petitioner considering the documents placed by the petitioner. It is made clear that same shall not be rejected on the ground that the death had occurred after 30 days of the duty while passing the fresh order the Judgments of this Court in Kusum Lata Yadav (supra) and Indrawati Gupta(supra) shall also be considered, a fresh order shall be passed within a period of three months from today. Accordingly, the writ petition stands allowed. " Learned counsel for the petitioner has also drawn attention of this Court that in Writ- A No.25311 of 2021, Indrawati Gupta (supra), the District Magistrate concerned was directed to release the ex-gratia payment to the dependents of the deceased with interest at the rate of 9 per cent. He submits that present petitioner is also entitled for the interest on the delayed payment from the date of Judgment and order dated 2.3.2025, till the date of actual payment, i.e., 20.9.2024, which admittedly has not been paid to the petitioner. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the respondents submits that the ex- gratia payment has been paid to the petitioner, vide order dated 20.9.2024 and so far as the interest part is concerned, the same same shall be considered if it is payable. Considering the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, particularly, the Judgment passed on 2.3.2023, the respondent no.2/District Magistrate, Ayodhya is directed to consider the payment of interest on the delayed payment of ex gratia amount from 2.3.2025 to 20.9.2024 to the petitioner within a period of six weeks from the date of production of certified copy of this order before him. With the aforesaid observations, present petition is disposed of. October 30, 2025 Ram Murti WRIA No. 12652 of 2025 2 (Shree Prakash Singh,J.) Digitally signed by :- RAM MURTI YADAV High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench