[COVID Vaccination] Is there a national plan on use of public transport during pandemic? Bombay High Court to Centre

The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Central government whether it has formulated any national plan under the Disaster Management Act to differentiate between persons based on their vaccination status when it comes to use of public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic..The query was put by the Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik while hearing the pleas challenging the Maharashtra government's policy to not permit unvaccinated persons to travel by local trains and avail of other services.Senior Advocate Anil Anturkar, counsel for the Maharashtra government, informed the Court that he was not aware of any such national plan by the Centre.The Bench then asked the Centre to clarify its stand on whether it has prepared any plan to combat COVID-19 for implementation across the country.The Centre is expected to respond to the query by January 21, 2022.The Bench had previously enquired with the petitioners about the extent of judicial review powers available to courts in matters pertaining to the health of citizens..Responding to that, advocate Nilesh Ojha representing the petitioners, relied upon an affidavit of the Central government which said that there could not be any discrimination between individuals based on their vaccination status.Hence, the circulars under challenge which differentiated between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons were illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights, it was contended by Ojha. Hence, the High Court can interfere with such decisions which pertained to health-related policy, it was submitted..Refuting this submission, Anturkar reiterated that the restriction to fundamental rights was reasonable during the pandemic as the same is a "precautionary measure".He emphasised on the need to be cautious, highlighting the sufferings during the first and second waves of the pandemic..These steps which had been taken were means to minimise the spread of infection, he added. .Citing Section 11 of the Disaster Management Act, Anturkar submitted that a national plan is required to be drawn by the Central Executive Committee, and reviewed and updated annually.He said that he was unaware of any such plan where the Central government had suggested that vaccinated and unvaccinated persons cannot be differentiated to safeguard public health.If the Central government has prepared such a plan governing the use of public transport during the pandemic, the State would adopt the same, Anturkar said.