Incorrect Date And Venue On Vaccination Certificate: Kerala High Court Directs Enquiry To Verify If Its A Genuine Mistake Or Mischief

The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed an enquiry into a matter where incorrect date and venue were displayed on the petitioner's Covid-19 vaccination certificate for his second dose, to verify if it was a genuine mistake or some mischief.

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan remarked that if the incorrect details on the certificate were found to be a result of any sort of mischief, such an incident calls for stringent action against the officials involved.

"If it was a mistake, that's understandable and a new certificate can be issued with corrections. However, if it was otherwise, if there is some mischief, then stringent action be taken against the officials concerned."

A direction has been issued to the Ernakulam District Medical Officer to conduct the enquiry since the venue cited on the impugned certificate was a vaccination centre in the said district. 

The direction was set out during the hearing of a plea moved by K P John who alleged falsification of details on his vaccination certificate regarding the second dose. 

The petitioner, represented by Advocate C Dileep and Advocate Anushka Vijayakumar, sought the issuance of a corrected vaccination certificate.

He also claimed that a letter was sent to the DMO and a legal notice was sent to the hospital where the vaccination centre was located seeking corrections in the certificate. 

However, the petitioner was forced to approach the Court pursuant to continued action on the part of the said authorities till date.

The Bench was also informed that the petitioner had received the first dose in March and the second in April, both from a vaccination centre in Aluva, and had never gone to Ernakulam for a jab.

However, when the vaccination certificate was released in July, the certificate displayed that the second dose was administered in July at a vaccination certificate in Ernakulam.

The matter has been accordingly listed for further consideration after a week.

Case Title: K P John v. Union of India