The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenged the enforcement mechanisms of the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY). The PIL, filed by activist Aakash Goel, sought to mandate the Centre, along with other relevant authorities, to distribute policy documents to all holders as stipulated under Regulation 8(1) of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Protection of Policyholders’ Interests) Regulations, 2017.
Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, who presided over the case, dismissed the petition on grounds that its assertions were largely founded on “presumptions or assumptions” rather than concrete evidence. They noted that Goel’s claim that two-thirds of policyholders were deprived of their benefits lacked factual substantiation.
In their ruling, the judges expressed concerns that the petition, if entertained, could potentially lead to fraudulent claims, complicating the administration of the insurance scheme rather than aiding it. The court remarked that the petitioner seemed to be “daydreaming” in his expectations from the judicial system to rectify administrative processes without solid proof of systemic failure.
The dismissed petition had also highlighted issues regarding the non-sharing of the national death database between the Registrar General and Census Commissioner from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Financial Services (DFS), and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). According to Goel, this alleged bureaucratic lapse prevented the efficient disbursement of the Rs. 2,00,000 insurance benefit to the families or nominees of deceased policyholders.
Furthermore, the PIL had requested the court to ensure that all family members or nominees of deceased policyholders since the scheme’s inception in 2015 receive their due compensation. It also called for the implementation of the revised PMJJBY rules that came into effect on June 1, 2022, and for the DFS to collect and use data from state databases to facilitate timely payments to eligible beneficiaries.
