Revaccinate fake jab scam victims at the earliest: HC to Mumbai civic body

After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the Bombay high court (HC) that 2,773 fake vaccination victims have been identified in the city so far, the court asked the civic body to expedite the process for their revaccination as soon the Centre completes their deregistration process on CoWin portal

After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the Bombay high court (HC) that 2,773 fake vaccination victims have been identified in the city so far, the court asked the civic body to expedite the process for their revaccination as soon the Centre completes their deregistration process on CoWin portal. BMC said the victims were administered saline water, and 1,636 of them who had approached the civic body for check-ups, have shown no health issues.

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Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police informed the court that the probe on the fake vaccination complaint in Kandivli has reached the final stage and the charge sheet would be filed within a fortnight. The court then asked the police to endeavour for an expeditious progress in probes on other cases filed and sought the investigation report in sealed cover.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by city-based lawyer Siddharth Chandrashekhar, was informed by advocate Anita Shekhar-Castellino, that apart from the prayers sought in the petition for priority slots for the elderly and redressal of problems faced by people while booking slots on CoWin, the issue of fake vaccination also needed to be addressed.

In a previous hearing, HC was informed by BMC and police that the number of victims of the fake vaccines had been identified. The court had then sought a progress report from BMC and police.

On Friday, chief public prosecutor Aruna S Pai, representing Mumbai Police, informed the bench that 10 FIRs have been lodged in fake vaccination cases and 14 persons have been arrested, and an SIT (special investigation team) has been formed to probe the issue.

Senior counsel Anil Sakhare for BMC submitted that the civic body had issued fresh guidelines to housing societies, educational institutions and commercial establishments for conducting vaccination drives in their premises. He said BMC had requested the Centre to deregister the victims from CoWin for their revaccination.

After hearing the submissions, the bench asked additional solicitor general Anil Singh to ensure that the deregistration was done expeditiously and also asked the BMC to keep a vigil on such issues and ensure that the victims are vaccinated without any delay.

The court then posted further hearing of the PIL after two weeks.