Centre justifies vaccination policy, says no room for judicial intervention

The Centre has justified in the Supreme Court the Covid19 vaccination policy saying its response and strategy is completely driven by expert medical and scientific opinion which leaves little room for judicial interference and emphasised that citizens of all age groups will get free vaccination throughout the countryIn view of the unprecedented and peculiar circumstances under which vaccination drive is devised as an executive policy the ldquowisdom of the executive should be trustedrdquo it saidIn a global pandemic where the response and strategy of the nation is completely driven by expert medical and scientific opinion any overzealous though wellmeaning judicial intervention may lead to unforeseen and unintended consequences the government saidIn 218page affidavit filed late Sunday night in the top courts suo motu case on Covid19 management the Centre said this policy conforms to mandate of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India and is made after several rounds of consultation and discussion with experts state government and vaccine manufacturers requiring no interference by this Court as while dealing with a pandemic of this magnitude the executive does have a room for free play in the joints in larger public interestrdquoThe government further said ldquoIt is also submitted that citizens of 18 to 44 years are getting vaccination free of cost as all the state governments have announced free vaccination for this population group of 1844 years Thus all citizens of all age groups will get free vaccination throughout the countryStates have also been provided the information of the total number of doses of both vaccines available to them and the UTs from ldquoGovernment of India channelrdquo for the identified priority groups health care workers frontline workers and population above 45 years of age free of cost from May 1 to 15 and this data would be released every fortnight it saidIt is most respectfully submitted that in the times of such grave and unprecedented crisis which the nation is fighting the disaster of an unprecedented magnitude the executive functioning of the government needs discretion to formulate policy in larger interest It is submitted that in view of the unprecedented and peculiar circumstances under which vaccination drive is devised as an executive policy the wisdom of the executive should be trustedrdquo the affidavit saidThe government said that in a plethora of judgements the top court has laid down the parameters for judicial review of executive policies which can only be struck down or interfered with on the grounds of manifest arbitrariness allowing sufficient play in the joints to the executive to function in accordance with its Constitutional mandateldquoIn the context of a global pandemic where the response and strategy of the nation is completely driven by expert medical and scientific opinion there is even little room for judicial interference Any overzealous though wellmeaning judicial intervention may lead to unforeseen and unintended consequences in absence of any expert advice or administrative experience leaving the doctors scientists experts and executive very little room to find innovative solutions on the gordquo it saidIt said that the policy strategy and steps taken by the executive based on expert medical and scientific advice have to be appreciated in the context of a medical crisis and as the decisions are taken after detailed deliberations at the highest executive level for germane reasons ldquono interference is called for in judicial proceedings leaving it open for the executive to discharge its executive functions in larger interestrdquoIt said that due to consultations and ldquopersuasionrdquo by the Central Government both the manufacturers of vaccine Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India SII have declared their respective prices which are uniform for all state governmentsThis price factor will not have any impact on the ultimate beneficiary namely the eligible person getting the vaccine since all state governments have already declared their policy decision that each state will be administering vaccine to its residents free of cost it saidThe government said that by adopting consultative process and discussing at the highest possible level with the existing manufacturers of two vaccines it is ensured that the pricing of vaccine is also not only reasonable but uniform throughout the country removing any possibility of one citizen in one State getting the vaccine at a higher price as compared to a similarly situated resident residing in another StateldquoThus while it is ensured that the two vaccine manufacturers are not unduly enriched from out of public money the citizens are not supposed to make any payment for getting both doses of the vaccinerdquo it saidThe affidavit further said that the Centre has taken its executive policy decisions in the most scientific manner in consultation with experts in the field keeping in mind the health and wellbeing of the citizens as the main and only focal point in the context of the unprecedented human crisis faced by the nationldquoOn an immediate front the availability augmentation and enhancement of vaccines and completing vaccination of vulnerable groups is the topmost priority of the nationrdquo it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever