Supreme Court Disposes PIL Seeking Free Vaccination; Grants Liberty To Petitioner To Assist In Suo Motu Case

The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed off a PIL seeking directions to the UOI to frame a uniform pan-India policy for free-of-cost vaccination and the constitution of an independent body under the supervision of the Court to discuss about the systemic impact and to ease the implementation of free and equitable vaccination across the States.The bench headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud noted that the instant petition was filed by Social Democratic Party of India(SDPI) on May 10 in the midst of the second wave of the pandemic and that by the order of May 31 of the Supreme Court in its suo motu cognisance of the COVID-related issues, the concerns of the petitioner-in-person have been taken care of. "There has been a modification of the vaccination policy of the UoI to ensure maximum possible coverage. Also, a National Task Force comprising prominent doctors across the country, virologists and epidemiologists has been set up in the suo motu proceedings. In view of the same, the petitioner does not press the plea at this stage, reserving liberty to assist the court in the suo motu proceedings should the need arise in the future", said the court in its order.Justice Chandrachud mentioned the names of the best doctors from Delhi, Mumbai, Tami Nadu, Calcutta, Karnataka who are part of the NTF and also indicated the involvement of the Cabinet Secretary."Our 31st May order subserves your purpose. If you wish to intervene personally and assist the court in the suo motu proceedings, you are most welcome. Let a 1000 flowers bloom so to say- though this was used in a different context in world history- but let the wisdom come from whichever source possible!", said the judge, disposing off the plea.On June 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announcing a significant change in the vaccination policy, said that the Union Government has decided to procure vaccines for state governments as well. More importantly, the Prime Minister said that the benefit of Centre's free vaccination scheme will be extended to the age group of 18-44 years.Notably, this revision of the vaccine policy came few days after the Supreme Court's harsh criticism against it while considering the suo moto case on COVID issues (In Re Distribution of Essential Supplies and Services During Pandemic).Out of the several concerns expressed by a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat with the 'Liberalized Vaccination Policy', the two prominent ones were :(1) The dual pricing and procurement policy which forces states to directly procure vaccines from private manufacturers at a price fixed by them. Why states should pay more, the Court asked, emphasizing the need for uniform price.The Court observed that this was prima facie discriminatory as states have the same constitutional obligation as the Union to protect the health of the people.(2) The exclusion of the age group 18-44 years from the Centre's free vaccination scheme - the Court observed that this was prima facie arbitrary and irrational, particularly considering the fact this age group was the worst hit during the second wave of the pandemic.In this connection, it is relevant to note that till a week before this hearing, there was no indication of any revision in the vaccine policy, even though a lot of state governments were relentlessly calling for the same. Even as late as on May 31, the Centre maintained before the Supreme Court that 'all is well' with the vaccination policy, with the Solicitor General of India attempting to create a positive impression by mentioning the possibility of success in talks with foreign vaccine manufacturers.It is also relevant to note that the Supreme Court in its May 31 order went few steps ahead of its previous order by asking the Centre to :(1) Furnish complete data on vaccine purchase history.(2) Produce before the Court all relevant documents and file notings which led to the policy.(3) Explain how the budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crores was utilized for vaccine procurement and clarify why this amount cannot be utilized for giving free vaccines for the category of 18-44 years.It was clear that the Court decided to escalate its scrutiny to this degree as it was dissatisfied with the affidavit filed by the Centre in response to the specific queries raised by it in its April 30 order. It may be recalled that in its April 30 order, the Supreme Court detailed several constitutional lacunae with the vaccine policy and went to the extent of prima facie saying that it was "detrimental to the right to life and health" and that it needs a rethink to "make it conform to the mandate of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India"."Prima facie, the rational method of proceeding in a manner consistent with the right to life (which includes the right to health) under Article 21 would be for the Central Government to procure all vaccines and to negotiate the price with vaccine manufacturers. Once quantities are allocated by it to each ...

Supreme Court Disposes PIL Seeking Free Vaccination; Grants Liberty To Petitioner To Assist In Suo Motu Case

Mehal Jain & Shruti Kakkar

"There has been a modification in the vaccination policy of UoI to ensure maximum coverage along with the constitution of a National Task Force after our 31st May order."

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