Authorities Must Follow Centre's Policy That Aadhaar Isn't Mandatory For COVID Vaccination: Supreme Court

Recording the Centre's clarification that the Aadhaar card is neither mandatory for registration on the COWIN portal nor a precondition for availing of vaccination facilities at a COVID Vaccination Centre, and that any one of nine identity documents can be produced, the Supreme Court on Monday directed that all concerned authorities shall act in pursuance of this stated policy.

The bench of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant was hearing a writ petition by one Siddharthshankar Sharma seeking directions to the Centre to not insist on the Aadhaar card as the only proof of identification for the purpose of administering Covid-19 vaccination.

The bench recorded that pursuant to the order dated 1 October 2021 issuing notice, a counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which specifically records that the submission of the Aadhaar card is not mandatory for registration on the COWIN portal and as a matter of fact, any one of nine identity documents, including PAN card, driver's license, passport etc, can be produced.

"Quite apart from the above, it has also been stated in the counter-affidavit that provision has been made to conduct vaccination sessions for other categories of persons who may not have any identity cards in their possession at all such as including persons without a fixed place of abode, prison inmates, inmates in mental health institutions, persons in old-age homes and roadside beggars. Mr Aman Sharma, the advocate for the Union of India, states on instructions that 87 lakh people without any identity card at all have been vaccinated in the ongoing process", recorded the bench.

The bench went on to observe, "The grievance of the petitioner that he was denied the facility of vaccination for non-production of the Aadhaar card has also been dealt with in the counter-affidavit. It has been stated that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has addressed a communication dated 2 November 2021 to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, in the state of Maharashtra to take action against the concerned private CVC for refusing vaccination to the petitioner despite the production of a valid passport ID"

"In view of the clarification which has been issued in the affidavit to the effect that production of the Aadhaar card is not a mandatory precondition for availing of vaccination facilities, the grievance of the petitioner is substantially met. All concerned authorities shall act in pursuance of the stated policy which has been extracted in paragraph 8 of the counter affidavit", directed the bench.

AOR Mayank Kshirsagar alongwith Advocate Ms. Pankhuri appeared for the petitioner.

On October 1, 2021, at the outset, Justice Chandrachud had observed, "Don't go by newspaper articles. Have you seen the COWIN App yourself recently? It has now been updated. Go to the FAQ section and you will see that there are now a variety of ID proofs with which you can register"