COVID-19: Plea filed in SC seeks direction to Centre to approach ICJ for compensation from China

New Delhi: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and file a case for compensation of USD 600 billion from China alleging that the coronavirus pandemic was "deliberately created" by it.

The plea claimed there was strong evidence that coronavirus or COVID-19, which has "destroyed" the Indian economy and killed hundreds of it citizens, originated from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The petition, filed by Madurai resident K K Ramesh, has alleged that COVID-19 has been "deliberately created by China as biological weapon against India".

"Petitioner states COVID-19 pandemic was designed by China to be a very effective and catastrophic biological warfare weapon to kill mass population in India," said the plea, drawn by advocate C R Jaya Sukin.

It underlined that coronavirus spread in India, other countries and continents but not in other cities of China despite originating in nearby Wuhan.

The plea said that since individuals cannot approach the ICJ, the Centre should be directed to file a case there in this regard.

As per the latest data available on the website of the Health Ministry, over 56,000 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India with 1,886 deaths due to the virus.