Judges, Court Staff & Lawyers Also At COVID19 Risk: Delhi HC Registers Suo Moto PIL On Vaccination For Legal Fraternity
"The need of the hour is to vaccinate the masses, in view of the raging Pandemic, on a war footing so as to secure the life and health of all those who step out of their homes to attend to their avocations and professions. Courts, by their very nature, are places which have very high density congregations of people on a daily basis." -Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday registered a suo moto Public Interest Litigation for the purpose of vaccinating all persons associated with judicial functioning including Judges, Court Staff and Lawyers, treating them as "frontline workers", on a priority basis, without limitations of their age or physical condition. Finding weight in the communication made by Delhi Bar Council's Chairman,...
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday registered a suo moto Public Interest Litigation for the purpose of vaccinating all persons associated with judicial functioning including Judges, Court Staff and Lawyers, treating them as "frontline workers", on a priority basis, without limitations of their age or physical condition.
Finding weight in the communication made by Delhi Bar Council's Chairman, Mr. Ramesh Gupta, the division bench comprising of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli registered the communication dated 1st March 2021 as a PIL.
"In the light of the aforesaid, prima facie, it appears to us that there is weight in the claim made by the Bar Council of Delhi for declaring all persons associated with the judicial functioning, which includes the Judges, the Court Staff and the lawyers as frontline workers, so that they could receive vaccination on priority, and without limitations of their age or physical condition. We may observe that the co-morbidities enlisted by the Government to accommodate persons falling in the age group of 45 to 60 years, taken note of hereinabove, are serious conditions from which the Judges, the Court staff and Advocates may, or may not, be suffering. Even if, they are not found to be suffering from one of the co-morbidities, it does not mean that the risk of their contracting the disease and suffering serious health issues – including fatality, does not exist." The order reads.
According to the communication of Delhi Bar Council dated 1st March 2021 made to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, appropriate directions were requested to be issued on the medical and administrative authorities to make available necessary infrastructure including medical dispensaries in Court premises for the purpose of vaccination of judges, court staffs and lawyers by treating them as frontline workers.
Looking at the gravity of the issue and finding merits in the said communication, the division bench observed thus:
"The need of the hour is to vaccinate the masses, in view of the raging Pandemic, on a war footing so as to secure the life and health of all those who step out of their homes to attend to their avocations and professions. Courts, by their very nature, are places which have very high density congregations of people on a daily basis. Hundreds and thousands of cases are listed in any given Court complex every day. Apart from judges, the Court staff – which is substantial, and Advocates – who have to attend to their respective cases, and a large number of litigants visit Courts in which their cases are listed, on a daily basis."
In view of the availability of two vaccines in India, namely Covishield and Covaxin, the Court issued notice to its manufacturer companies Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech.
Furthermore, the Court also issued notice to Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GNCT of Delhi.
The notices are returnable on 4th March 2021 before the Chief Justice, DN Patel.
[Read Order]