Bombay HC upholds MPT’s Covid-19 test mandate for unvaccinated employees

The MPT circular had said that from June 16, unvaccinated employees won’t be permitted to attend work without producing RT-PCR test reports, which will be valid for 10 days

The Bombay high court on Tuesday upheld a Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) circular making it compulsory for unvaccinated employees to produce negative RT-PCR test results every 10 days. It said people deliberately avoiding Covid-19 vaccination are at a greater risk of contracting or transmitting the coronavirus disease.

The Bombay high court’s division bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and Abhay Ahuja said while the petitioners’ decision not to get vaccinated is well respected, it does not mean they are entitled to the same treatment that the MPT gives to vaccinated persons. (PTI/File)

A division bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and Abhay Ahuja said while the petitioners’ decision not to get vaccinated is well respected, it does not mean that they are entitled to the same treatment that the MPT gives to vaccinated persons. “...it is reasonable for a large organisation such as the MPT to require a higher degree of checking and monitoring of the Covid-19 status of unvaccinated persons,” said the bench. It called the requirement of periodically producing negative RT-PCR test reports as “a reasonable restriction on fundamental rights of the Petitioners to carry out their occupation or trade.”

The employees moved the court in August challenging the circular issued two months earlier. The circular said from June 16, unvaccinated employees will not be permitted to attend work without producing RT-PCR test reports, which will be valid for 10 days.

Seven MPT employees challenged the circular saying it discriminated between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees and therefore was violative of their fundamental rights.

Their lawyer, Aditi Saxena, argued that no meaningful distinction can be made between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons and that both stand on the same footing in terms of their likelihood to transmit Covid-19.

The petitioners maintained they cannot be compelled to get vaccinated and cited health ministry response under the Right to Information in March that Covid-19 vaccination was voluntary.

The MPT’s lawyer, Rajul Jain, opposed the petition saying vaccination provides strong protection against infection and transmission of Covid-19. He added that the MPT provided free vaccinations to its employees and the vast majority of them have got vaccinated.

Jain said vaccination is voluntary and therefore the MPT was not compelling employees to get vaccinated. He added as an alternative, unvaccinated employees must periodically produce test results, certifying they are free of Covid-19.

The court said there was no evidence that vaccinated persons cannot be carriers of Covid-19. It rejected the petitioner’s plea against their employers’ move to charge them for RT-PCR tests and treatment for Covid-19.