Vaccine poster row: Supreme Court refuses to direct Delhi Police to not register FIRs

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court instead directed the petitioner to first bring to its notice the cases registered and number of people arrested for allegedly putting up the posters, which criticised prime minister Narendra Modi.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to issue blanket orders to the Delhi Police to not register FIRs in connection with posters which surfaced in Delhi, criticising prime minister Narendra Modi for "sending Covid-19 vaccines to foreign countries." The court instead asked the petitioner to first bring to its notice the cases registered and number of people arrested for allegedly putting up the posters.

One of the posters which surfaced in Delhi

The two-judge bench, comprising of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah, gave the petitioner, Delhi-based lawyer Pradeep Kumar Yadav, one week to bring to its notice individual cases registered against people.

“We also read newspapers. The Lakshadweep controversy was something different. The woman in question was granted anticipatory bail from the Kerala high court. Don’t bring that controversy in the matter. You tell us about cases registered in Delhi in this matter,” the bench told Yadav after he said cases were lodged in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Lakshadweep.

The apex court further directed the petitioner to “do your homework” instead of just relying on newspaper reports, adding that it was not issuing any direction to the police. It then posted the matter for further hearing next week.

In May, Yadav had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, terming the arrests “illegal” and urged the court to quash the FIRs filed by the Delhi Police. In his plea, he also sought directions to the Delhi Police commissioner not to register any further cases or FIRs with regards to posters/advertisements/brochures etc. which surfaced, criticising PM Modi over the national Covid-19 vaccination drive.

The posters, which displayed the message “Modi ji, hamare bachchon ki vaccine videsh kyon bhej diya” (Modi ji, why did you send vaccines meant for our children abroad), surfaced at a time when the national capital, along with the rest of the country, was in the middle of a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

25 FIRs have been registered thus far and as many people arrested for allegedly putting up the posters, according to police record.

(With PTI inputs)