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Kerala HC directs Centre to set timeline for supply of vaccines to state
The lawyer appearing for the Union government said many intricacies were involved in such issues and sought time to file a detailed reply. The court agreed and the PIL will be heard again next Friday.
The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the Centre to inform when Covid-19 vaccines needed for the state could be supplied and also set a time-frame for it.
Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) questioning the manufacturing policy, transfer of technology, patent and supply of Covid-19 vaccines, the court expressed concern over the long wait to get jabs.
“Give a time-frame within which vaccines can be supplied to the state. If you delay the whole thing, new mutations will come up and people will die. Give a timeline, so we will get a picture,” a bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and M R Anitha observed.
The petitioner (Dr K P Aravindan) contended that there are at least 19 other vaccine manufacturers in the country and if the Centre agrees to transfer technology they can start manufacturing and many lives could be saved. He also questioned the different pricing of vaccines and said authorities should publish information regarding the intellectual property rights of vaccines for the knowledge of the people.
He also argued that there is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution (right to equality) which resulted in creating two classes in the vaccination policy, one price for the Union government and another for the state. He also said that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Centre own intellectual property rights of Covaxin. This can be transferred to other manufacturers to increase the production. He said it is possible to incorporate the required bio-safety levels into manufacturing units in a short span of time.
At this point, the court observed that the Covid-19 situation in the state was really serious and at the present pace of vaccination it would take a minimum of two years for the whole state to be vaccinated.
The lawyer appearing for the Union government said many intricacies were involved in such issues and sought time to file a detailed reply. The court agreed and the PIL will be heard again next Friday.
