Team News Riveting
Raipur, May 4
The Chhattisgarh High Court has taken a strong exception over the state government’s vaccination policy that facilitates reservation in the health drive.
Filing an application for intervention, Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) President and former lawmaker Amit Jogi had challenged Chhattisgarh Government’s COVID-19 vaccination policy before the Chhattisgarh High Court. The plea has been filed in the suo moto cognizance matter related to the tsunami second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inadequacy in medical infrastructure to tackle the same.
In his application, Jogi pointed out that the state government had passed an order on April 30 in which it included a classification in the form of reservation for the economically weaker section, benefiting with vaccination for the age group of 18-44 years. By the impugned order, the application said, the first preference for vaccination for the age group of 18-44 years has been allotted to the Antyodaya beneficiaries, the second round to individuals below the poverty line and in the third round to the above poverty line.
Besides, the order further prescribed that all the vaccines procured by the state after May 1 will only be made available through government centres thereby subjecting it to the scheme of distribution.
A division bench of Chhattisgarh High Court comprising Chief Justice P R Ramchandra Menon and Justice P P Sahu Tuesday conducted the virtual hearing in the application of intervention and took a serious note on the state government’s vaccination policy. Kishore Bhaduri, leading lawyer appearing for the petitioner, contended that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) had set priority for vaccination but never spoke of reservation. He said the state government was denying the fundamental rights of the people.
According to High Court sources, the bench said the state government had no authority to formulate the policy for vaccination as it was the Centre’s subject. It directed Advocate General Satish Chand Verma to submit the state government’s version on the issue by Friday or the High Court could consider scrapping the policy as discrimination could not been entertained in vaccination, sources added.
The order is likely to be issued later in the evening.
