Free vaccination to 45+ by Central govt and paid vaccination for 18+ by States, private hospitals arbitrary, irrational: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court took a dim view of the liberalized vaccination policy adopted by the Central Government to vaccinate people against COVID-19, stating that offering free vaccination to persons above 45 while making it paid for those in the age bracket 18-44 is prima facie irrational and arbitrary (In re: Distribution of Essential Supplies and Services during pandemic)..A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat, in its judgment in the suo motu case on COVID-19 issues, also noted that the policy does not prioritize persons with co-morbidities and other diseases and persons with disabilities."Due to the importance of vaccinating individuals in the 18-44 age group, the policy of the Central Government for conducting free vaccination themselves for groups under the first 2 phases, and replacing it with paid vaccination by the State/UT Governments and private hospitals for the persons between 18-44 years is, prima facie, arbitrary and irrational," the Court said. .Not providing priority to persons with co-morbidities and disabled persons between the age group 18-44 is especially an issue because the second wave of the pandemic has provided an "experiential learning that the COVID-19 virus is capable of mutation and now poses a threat to persons in this age group as well," the Court said. ."Due to the changing nature of the pandemic, we are now faced with a situation where the 18-44 age group also needs to be vaccinated, although priority may be retained between different age groups on a scientific basis," the judgment said..Regarding the vaccine procurement policy, the top court stated that given that inter-State barriers in India are porous and persons are free to migrate and work in different parts of the country, it is essential to understand if the pro rata allotment will take into account such migration to more densely populated industrial and urban States/ Union Territories. .[BREAKING] Supreme Court seeks complete data on Central Govt’s purchase history of all COVID-19 vaccines; asks when vaccination can be completed."Other concerns, such as the stage of the pandemic, the healthcare infrastructure and existing capacities of a State/UT, the literacy rate, age and overall health condition of its population, may also be relevant factors in making such a pro rata determination. The UoI should thus specify whether it seeks to address these concerns within the vaccination policy such that the State/UT Governments have a realistic assessment of the assistance they can anticipate from the UoI," the judgment said..Since the Central government had submitted that such decisions are within the executive domain and that the top court should not intervene in policy matters, the Supreme Court clarified that it does not intend to second-guess the wisdom of the executive when it chooses between two competing and efficacious policy measures.However, it added that it exercises jurisdiction to determine whether the policy is reasonable or not. "Supreme Court continues to exercise jurisdiction to determine if the chosen policy measure conforms to the standards of reasonableness, militates against manifest arbitrariness and protects the right to life of all persons," the Court said. .[BREAKING] Universal COVID vaccination can't be achieved by a policy that relies exclusively on digital portal: Supreme Court on CoWin website.The three-judge special bench also stated that the Court is presently assuming a dialogic jurisdiction wherein various stakeholders are provided a forum to raise constitutional grievances with respect to the management of the pandemic."This court would, under the auspices of an open court judicial process, conduct deliberations with the executive where justifications for existing policies would be elicited and evaluated to assess whether they survive constitutional scrutiny," the judgment said..[Read Judgment]