“NO ONE CAN BE FORCED TO TAKE VACCINE”: SUPREME COURT
New Delhi (The Quiver) : No one can be forced to take any vaccination, the latest announcement made by Supreme Court. “Bodily integrity is protected under the law and nobody can be forced to be vaccinated,” the Supreme Court mentioned. However, certain limitations could be imposed on individual rights of the person in the interest of the community health, the court asserted.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai delivered the judgement on the plea challenging mandatory Covid-19 vaccine mandates as unconstitutional, saying, “We are not inclined to entertain any challenge to the maintainability of the writ petition. Court has the power to scrutinise the policy in question. With respect to infringement of personal autonomy and bodily integrity.”
The Supreme Court also directed the Centre to publish reports on adverse events of vaccines from people and doctors on a publicly accessible system, without revealing the personal details of the individuals who reported them.
The Centre had argued in court that the petition was “against national interest” and would create vaccine hesitancy. It had also said vaccination is voluntary but states had enforced mandates “based on potential hazards”.
