Delhi High Court imposes Rs. 10,000 costs on petitioner who sought details of foreign COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed with Rs 10,000 costs a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking details of foreign COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers who have applied for approval in India (Mayank Wadhwa v. Union of India)..A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh opined that there was no reason to entertain the plea "to increase the knowledge" of the petitioner. ."We are not going to entertain the writ petition to increase your knowledge. There is an Act for that," the Court remarked as it emphasised that the petitioner was free to prefer an application under the Right to Information Act.."For every small problem, writ petition is not the solution. It is fashion to convert every idea into a writ petition. Jurisdiction of this Court can't be misused by public," the Court added. .The Chief Justice's Bench also refused to entertain another PIL which sought supply of vaccines to Delhi on a priority basis and priority vaccination of certain classes of citizens such as those involved in public transport (Nazia Parveen v. GNCTD).."Everyone wants priority in vaccination...who will be number 2 then? High Court will not do such things," the Court said..Again reiterating that it could not frame a policy under writ jurisdiction, the Court stated, "High Court cannot replace the existing policy with better policy, which is not in violation of any law...only in exceptional cases, legislative type drafting can be done by the Court...".While specifically dealing with petitioner's prayers concerning "bottling of vaccines", the Court noted that this was a "technical aspect". "Vaccine is not RO water that it anyone can do it. Vaccine is not water at all," the Court remarked as it clarified that the policy on vaccine bottling had to be formulated by the government. .The Court also noted that several of the prayers in the PIL were similar to those pending before the Supreme Court. It ultimately directed that this PIL be considered by the government authorities as a representation.