The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain two PILs seeking directions to the Union Government regarding vaccination drive for different classes of persons and related reliefs.
A bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice B.V. Nagarathna observed that both the PILs seeking relief against Covid-19 have now become infructuous in lieu of the orders passed by the apex court in suo motu Writ Petition no. 3 of 2021 i.e. “IN RE: DISTRIBUTION OF ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES AND SERVICES DURING PANDEMIC”.
Justice Chandrachud stated that the petitions were filed in May and the relief sought is now subsumed by earlier order of Apex Court. However, he invited the advocates, who filed the petition to suggest or provide any sort of wisdom.
Advocate on record A. Selvin Raja asked the court if it could tag the PIL filed by him to the ongoing suo motu matter. The bench was of the view that tagging matters together will burden the court and stated that “you come and assist us.”
The first PIL, filed by AOR Raja, sought directions to the Union of India to formulate a uniform pan-India policy of Covid-19 vaccination for providing it free of cost to every person within India and a uniform body to administer the vaccination drive. The bench stated that a National Task Force having top faculty from across India is leading and overseeing the vaccination drive and other tasks regarding Covid.
The second PIL, filed by AOR Manisha T. Karia, sought directions to ease the process of getting vaccinated for delivery persons on immediate basis and direction to all the companies and organisations hiring delivery persons, to ensure proper and complete vaccination for them.