‘Enter enemy territory, conduct surgical strike’: Bombay HC to Centre on vaccination

The bench observed that the Centre’s ‘near to home’ vaccination programme is equal to waiting for the virus to make the first move.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday asked the Centre to take an approach akin to ‘surgical strike’ in battling the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and said it should not wait at the borders waiting for the virus to come out.

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A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation filed by two advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari who sought a direction to the government to start a door-to-door vaccination programme for senior citizens above the age of 75, differently-abled people, people in wheelchairs and bed-ridden people, according to a report by news agency PTI.

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The bench observed that the Centre’s ‘near to home’ vaccination programme is equal to waiting for the virus to make the first move. “Coronavirus is our biggest enemy. We need to strike it down. The enemy is residing in certain areas and in some people who are unable to come out. Your (government) approach should be like a surgical strike. You are standing at the borders waiting for the virus carrier to come to you. You are not entering the enemy territory,” the bench observed.

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The court said that the government has taken several decisions to alleviate the difficulties faced by the public but said that few of those decisions may have been delayed which led to loss of several lives. The Centre told the court that it cannot conduct a door-to-door vaccination programme at this moment.

The court pointed out that door-to-door vaccination programmes have been started by Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Odisha and also by civic bodies in Vasai-Virar in Maharashtra.

“Why should the same not be encouraged in other states across the country? The central government cannot clip the wings of those state governments and civic bodies who wish to do it (door-to-door vaccination) but are waiting for the Centre's nod,” the court said. The court also highlighted that only the Brihanmumbai Municipal Council and the Maharashtra government were waiting for the Centre’s nod.

“Why is only the west waiting?” the court asked.

The court directed additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the Centre, to consider the issue. The court will further hear the matter on June 11.

(with inputs from PTI)