E-Paper
Citizens can't be so intolerant: Kerala HC on PM Modi's photo on vaccine certificate
The division bench observed that the photograph is only an effort by the government to motivate people to get vaccinated.
The Kerala high court has dismissed an appeal against PM Modi's photograph on Covid-19 vaccination certificates and said citizens should not be so intolerant that they can not withstand printing of the photograph of the Prime Minister on a certificate. The petitioner has moved a division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly challenging a single judge's rejection of the plea. The division bench too dismissed the appeal and said it failed to understand how the photograph interferes with the fundamental rights of the appellant.
The division bench observed that the photograph is aimed at drawing the attention of the citizens and to motivate them to get vaccinated.
In our considered opinion, the printing of a photograph, or inscriptions contained in the certificate would not interfere with the fundamental rights of appellant since the photograph and the inscriptions are made apparently with the intention of gathering the attention of the citizens at large and to motivate the citizens to come forward for the administration of the vaccine. In our view, such an action was required from the side of the government of India since Covid-19 vaccination was not made compulsory and therefore, in order to protect the larger interest of the community as such, motivation in order to instil confidence in the public was largely required."
The division bench noted that a citizen is not entitled to ask the Centre to remove PM Modi's photograph from the certificate exercising rights under Article 19 as such a claim is never a fundamental right.
"In our considered view, it would never interfere with the freedom o speech and expression guaranteed to a citizen within the framework of the Constitution of India. The rights guaranteed thereunder cannot be treated so wafer-thin and so peripheral and hence citizens cannot be intolerant to the extent that they cannot withstand printing of the photograph of the Prime Minister in a certificate," the court observed.
A single bench of the High Court had on December 21, last year dismissed the earlier petition, saying it was "frivolous", filed with "ulterior motives". The single bench imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on the petitioner which the division bench has reduced to ₹25,000.
The petitioner had contended that the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and therefore, it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual.
(With inputs from PTI, LiveLaw)
