The Gujarat High Court has maintained a notice given by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation which made it compulsory to be completely immunized with two dosages of both of the Covid antibodies, to enter a large group of public spaces and offices under its ward.
A two-bench Justice, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Niral R Mehta articulated its request in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) appeal which tested the September warning, which made section to offices like the Sabarmati RiverFront, the city transport administration, the zoo and so on restrictive on being completely immunized against the Covid.
“We expect the citizens of the State of Gujarat not to come to this High Court with such flimsy writ applications in the public interest. None of the citizens should interfere when it comes to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the contrary, as law-abiding citizens, we expect them to extend full co-operation to the authorities. One should not forget the worst of the nightmares given by the Covid-19 continuously for two years,” the order stated.
The Court also warned the citizens of Gujarat regarding the risks that are still posed by Covid-19 and appealed to all citizens to get both shots of the vaccine during the hearing of the plea.
“We take this opportunity of making a fervent appeal to all the citizens of the State of Gujarat to get themselves vaccinated, if not yet till this date. It is very essential to get vaccinated with two doses as prescribed to protect themselves from the threat of Covid-19, more particularly the new variant, namely, Omicron. It’s time for people to take the third dose of a booster,” the Court said in its order.
The Court pulled up the petitioners for applying such an appeal that could imperil people in general on the loose and surprisingly commented that it would be legitimized in monumental expenses.
“You four petitioners are putting 6 crores at risk … Why should such people even come to the High Court? Very unfortunate, we could have imposed costs,” Justice Pardiwala said after rejecting the PIL.
The petitioners appealed to the High Court scrutinizing the lawfulness and legitimacy of the circular.
They claimed that the corporation’s move is past its position and called attention to that the Union government had said that inoculation is willful.
The counsel for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation countered the cases by referring to the approaching third wave and the development of new variations of the Covid.
The Court was of the view that it ought not to engage the PIL, in the bigger public interest, and subsequently dismissed something similar in limine.
It hailed the corporation’s decision to guarantee the wellbeing of the public at large by guaranteeing that residents don’t “face the wrath” of the Omicron variation.
The Court, accordingly, dismissed the request with an intense call to residents to get themselves completely immunized.
Advocates Aum M Kotwal and Shree Kotwal appeared for the petitioners while Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas appeared for the Union of India. Advocates Gursharan Virk and Simranjitsingh H Virk appeared for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
