Supreme Court Adjourns Plea Seeking Disclosure Of COVID Vaccine Clinical Trial & Efficacy Data

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the writ petition seeking public disclosure of vaccine clinical trial data and post vaccination data as required by International medical norms for November 29, 2021.

The bench of Justices LN Rao and AS Oka in the order said, "List on November 29, 2021 after fresh matters. Reply if any be filed in the meantime."

Arguing that vaccine mandates were still being issued and that people were losing their jobs, Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the petitioner Dr.Jacob Puliyel requested the bench to hear the petition at the earliest.

Seeking time to file a reply on Centre's behalf, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, "He wants a mandate that vaccines should not be administered. I need 3 weeks time. Let the country go the way it wants to go. I'm yet to file my reply. We do not know which interest he's representing."

"3 months have passed after the notice was issued," Advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted.

The bench accordingly listed the matter to be heard after fresh matters on November 29, 2021. The bench had issued notice to the Centre on the PIL on August 9. While agreeing that the petition raised certain relevant points, the bench refused to halt the vaccination drive and vaccine mandates,

The petition filed by Dr Jacob Puliyel, former member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, sought directions for release of entire segregated trial data for each phase of trial undertaken for vaccines being administered in India. The petitioner had clarified that the present plea should not be understood as a plea challenging the present covid vaccination programme.

The plea was filed seeking directions to direct the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization to disclose the decision of DGCI granting approval or rejecting an application for emergency use of authorisation of vaccines and documents submitted to DGCI in support of the application.

The plea had also sought directions for disclosure of post vaccination data regarding adverse events, vaccines who got infected with covid, needed hospitalisation and those who died post vaccination. Such events should also be advertised through toll free number.

Further, the plea had sought a declaration that vaccine mandates, in any manner whatsoever, even by making it a precondition for accessing any benefits or services is violative of rights of citizens and is unconstitutional.

The petitioner had also prayed for not issuing any coercive mandates for use of the inadequately tested events and the courts reiterate that vaccine mandates are repugnant to the right of humans to autonomy and right to self determine what may be injected into their bodies.

Case Title: Jacob Puliyel v. Union of India and Ors| WP (C) 607/2021

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