`No individual can be forced to get vaccinated. The Court also says that it`s satisfied that the current vaccine policy can`t be said to be unreasonable & manifestly arbitrary,` said the Supreme Court regarding Force Vaccination.
Today, the honorable Supreme Court of the country said that no person can or should be forced to take the Covid – 19 vaccine.
The court stated “No individual can be forced to get vaccinated. The Court also says that it’s satisfied that the current vaccine policy can’t be said to be unreasonable & manifestly arbitrary,” “The government can form policy and impose some conditions for the larger public good.
This judgement was given by the top court in a public interest litigation or PIL filed by Dr Jacob Puliyel for Force Vaccination.
The petition alleged coercive vaccination of citizens and sought disclosure of Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial data and post-vaccination data
The bench which delivered the judgement consisted of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai. The bench noted that bodily autonomy and integrity are protected under Article 21 of the Constitution, i.e., are protected under Right to Life and Liberty.
The top court said the current Covid-19 vaccine policy cannot be said to be manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable.
“Till numbers are low, we suggest that relevant orders are followed and no restriction is imposed on unvaccinated individuals on access to public areas or recall the same if already not done,” the bench said.
The court also brought forward and noted that the conditions imposed by some state governments, of restricting access to public places for unvaccinated people, is not proportional to the situation that currently exists and noted that these policies should be recalled in the present prevailing conditions.
The Supreme Court also directed the Centre to make available to the public the data regarding the adverse effects or side effects of the Covid-19 vaccination.
India on Monday reported 3,157 new Covid-19 infection cases. With this increase, the active caseload has now increased to 19,500.
India recorded 26 new deaths today, pushing the total death toll to 5,23,869. The country also reported 2,723 recoveries of the virus in a day.
Concludingly we can see that the Supreme Court has upheld citizen’s fundamental rights by noting that people can’t be forced to get vaccinated but has also not found the central government’s policy unreasonable and unjustified.
The court has directed some state governments to bring an end to certain policies which are not proportional to the situation at hand.
In the end the harmonization of citizen’s rights and government aim of public good is necessary.
Edited by – Vanshika Sahu
Published by – Mohd Faizan
