The Evening Wrap: Supreme Court bats for one price for Covid-19 vaccines

The Hindu Newsletter - The biggest news stories from today [logo] The Evening Wrap Monday | 31 May, 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Supreme Court bats for one price for Covid-19 vaccines The [government on Monday said it will inoculate the “entire eligible population”]( in the country by the end of 2021, but the Supreme Court raised questions about achieving such a milestone with a policy that allows the Centre to procure only 50% of the vaccines while leaving the States to fend for themselves. The court also challenged the differential vaccine pricing policy, saying “there needs to be one price for vaccines across the nation”. A three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also asked the government to “please wake up and smell the coffee” about the farfetchedness of an illiterate villager from rural India crossing the “digital divide” to register for Covid-19 vaccination on the CoWIN portal where slots disappear in the blink of an eye. Justice Chandrachud said the government should be aware of the ground realities in ‘Digital India’. Vaccination policy today is entirely exclusionary of the rural areas, the court said. [ A view of the Supreme Court of India. File ] One of the judges on the Bench, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said he had received distress calls from across the country from people unable to register on CoWIN. The court asked why marginalised sections should not be treated on par with people having co-morbities for early vaccination. The virtual hearing, however, began on a positive note with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assuring that “on vaccination, as per our estimate, from the domestic market and Sputnik V, we expect the entire eligible population to get vaccinated by the end of this year”. Mehta said the government was in talks with other manufacturers like Pfizer. If the discussions succeed, the government would be able to advance its deadline for completing the immunisation drive. The Solicitor General said he would file an affidavit with the latest updates. But the court highlighted the difference in vaccine prices between the Centre and the States. When the Centre can purchase vaccine in bulk for ₹150 per dose, the States have to pay ₹300 to ₹600. Justice L. Nageswara Rao, on the Bench, asked why even the two vaccines — Covaxin and Covishield — were differentially priced. “What is the rationale for this dual pricing policy? Why is the Centre procuring at a lower price and what has the Centre fixed its vaccine purchase at 50% and left the States to their own devices?” Justice Bhat asked. “Article 1 of the Constitution says Bharat is a Union of States. When the Constitution says that, we will follow the federal rule. Then the Government of India has to wholly procure the vaccines and distribute them. Here, individual States are left in a lurch…” Justice Chandrachud said. [underlineimg] Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking to halt Central Vista work, imposes ₹1 akh fine on petitioners The [Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking to halt the construction activities at the Central Vista Avenue](Redevelopment Project in view of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases. A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh remarked that there was no reason for the court to suspend the construction activities as the workers were staying at the project site, and “COVID-19 protocols are adhered to and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is being followed”. “We are of the view that this is a motivated petition preferred by the petitioners and not a genuine public interest litigation [PIL],” the court said while imposing a cost of ₹1 lakh on petitioners Anya Malhotra, who works as a translator; and Sohail Hashmi, a historian and documentary film maker. [ Central Vista project redevelopment construction work in progress at Rajpath in New Delhi on May 31, 2021. ] The petitioners had argued that the project was not an essential activity and hence, it could be put on hold for now during the pandemic. The court noted that the work at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment was part and parcel of the Central Vista Project and of vital public importance and the legality of the project had been upheld by Supreme Court. “By no stretch of imagination, it can be said that Central Vista Project or Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project is not an essential project,” the court said, adding, “If this type of project is stopped by the court, the main project cannot be completed within the stipulated time”. It noted that the work at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project had to be completed by November, 2021. While the petitioners argued that the time limit be extended, the court said, “Such kind of arguments cannot be accepted by this court, keeping in view that the construction activity of this essential project or of a project of national importance cannot be stopped especially when the conditions imposed by the order of the DDMA dated 19th April, 2021...are not flouted or violated”. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, for the petitioners, had stated that his clients were only delivering a message of health and safety for the people of Delhi and if the government could not see it, then it was a “sorry reflection” of their concern for the lives of the citizens. Luthra had referred to the ongoing project work as not Central Vista, rather “central fortress of death”, comparing it to “Auschwitz”, a German concentration camp during World War II. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to the comparison, saying one could criticise but such terms should not be used. [underlineimg] It’s time to define limits of sedition, SC says The [Supreme Court on Monday said “it is time to define the limits of sedition”]( even as it protected two Telugu channels from any coercive action by the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government for their reportage of the Covid-19 pandemic in the State. A three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud flagged indiscriminate use of the sedition law against critics, journalists, social media users, activists and citizens for airing their grievances about the government’s Covid-19 management, or even for seeking help to gain medical access, equipment, drugs and oxygen cylinders, especially during the second wave of the pandemic. “This is muzzling the media,” Justice L. Nageswara Rao, another judge on the Bench along with Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, said about the manner in which Andhra Pradesh had tried to “silence” channels TV5 and ABN. “It is time to define the limits of sedition,” Justice Chandrachud said. He pointed out that the Court had categorically told the States not to initiate penal action against the critics of Covid-19 management measures in an April 30 order. Both channels urged the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings against the senior officials of the State government for violating the April 30 order of the Supreme Court to “immediately cease any direct and indirect threats of prosecution and arrest to citizens, who air their grievances”. [underlineimg] India’s GDP recorded its worst contraction since independence in 2020-21, shrank by 7.3% India's [Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 7.3% in 2020-21](, as per provisional National Income estimates released by the National Statistical Office on Monday, marginally better than the 8% contraction in the economy projected earlier. GDP growth in 2019-20, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, was 4%. The fourth quarter of 2020-21 recorded a growth of 1.6% in GDP, the second quarter of positive growth, after the country had entered a technical recession in the first half of the year. The Gross Value Added recorded 3.7% growth in Q4, compared to 1% in Q3. GVA had contracted 22.4% and 7.3% in the first and second quarters of 2020-21. GDP had contracted 24.4% in the April to June 2020 quarter, followed by a 7.4% shrinkage in the second quarter. It had returned to positive territory in the September to December quarter with a marginal 0.5% growth. [underlineimg] West Bengal Chief Secretary opts to retire, joins Mamata as chief adviser Soon after [West Bengal government decided not to release its Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay](, who was asked by the Centre to report to Delhi on Monday, the latter decided to retire from the civil service. He will, however, continue to serve the State as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s chief adviser. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier in the day written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him that the State won’t release Bandyopadhyay and urging him to rescind the order. Last week, the Union government issued an order asking the Chief Secretary to report to the Central government at 10 a.m. on Monday. “The government of West Bengal cannot release, and is not releasing, its Chief Secretary at this critical hour on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid. The latest order is also clearly in violation of applicable laws and against public interest: it is in any case ab initio void,” Banerjee wrote in the letter addressed to the Prime Minister. “I thus humbly appeal to your conscience and good sense, on the behalf of people of West Bengal, and request you to rescind the latest order,” she added. “I really and sincerely hope that this latest order is not related to my meeting with you at Kalaikunda. If that be the reason, it would be sad, unfortunate and would amount to sacrificing public interest at the altar of misplaced priorities,” she wrote referring to the incident where she skipped the review meeting on cyclone ‘Yaas’chaired by the Prime Minister. Bandyopadhyay had accompanied the Chief Minister. [underlineimg] Kerala Assembly passes resolution seeking recall of Lakshadweep administrator The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution [demanding the recall of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Khoda Patel]( and withdrawal of the controversial orders issued by him. The house also expressed solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, who have been protesting against the decisions of the administrator and have demanded immediate steps to safeguard the culture and livelihood of the people of the island. It is the first resolution moved in the Assembly after the second LDF government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came to power in the April 6 Assembly elections and the first in the 15th Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister, who moved the resolution under Rule 118 in the House after obituary references and presentations of the reports, said the administrator was taking many measures to alienate the peace-loving people of the island. “In the name of development, even their livelihood is threatened. Even coconut trees are painted with saffron colour in the name of beautification. This can’t be allowed at any cost.” “The attempt is to impose and implement the saffron agenda and corporate interests in Lakshadweep. The Sangh Parivar is making the island another laboratory and people of the country will not allow that to happen,” the resolution said. After the recall of the administrator, the resolution said all controversial decisions taken by him should be withdrawn. [underlineimg] Twitter has to comply with new digital rules, says Delhi High Court [Twitter has to comply with the new Information Technology Rules for digital media]( if they have not been stayed, the Delhi High Court said on Monday. Justice Rekha Palli issued notice to the Centre and social media platform Twitter seeking their stand on a plea by a lawyer, Amit Acharya, claiming non-compliance of the Rules by it. While Twitter claimed before the court that it has complied with the rules and appointed a resident grievance officer, the Central government disputed the claim. “They have to follow it [rules], if it has not been stayed,” the court said. In his plea, filed through advocate Akash Vajpai and Manish Kumar, Acharya said that he came to know about the alleged non-compliance when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets. During the hearing, Central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj told the court that Twitter has not complied with the rules. Acharya, in his plea, said that the new IT Rules took effect from February 25 and the Centre had given three months to every social media intermediary, including Twitter, to comply with them. He contended that the three-month period got over on May 25, but no resident grievance officer was appointed by Twitter to deal with complaints regarding tweets on its platform. The petition has sought a direction to Twitter to appoint a resident grievance officer without further delay. It has also sought a direction to the Centre to ensure that the IT rules are complied with. Twitter had recently said it was committed to India as a vital market, but criticised the new IT rules and regulations, saying they “inhibit free, open public conversation”. [underlineimg] As births decline, China to allow couples to have third child [China’s ruling Communist Party said on Monday that it will ease birth limits](to allow all couples to have three children instead of two in hopes of slowing the rapid aging of its population, which is adding to strains on the economy and society. The ruling party has enforced birth limits since 1980 to restrain population growth but is now worried that the number of working-age people is falling too fast while that of 65-plus is rising. That threatens to disrupt its ambitions to transform China into a prosperous consumer society and global technology leader. A ruling party meeting led by President Xi Jinping decided to introduce “measures to actively deal with the aging population,” the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said leaders agreed that “implementing the policy of one couple can have three children and supporting measures are conducive to improving China’s population structure." Leaders also agreed that China needs to raise its retirement age to keep more people in the workforce and improve pension and health services for the elderly, Xinhua said. Restrictions that limited most couples to one child were eased in 2015 to allow two, but the total number of births fell further, suggesting rule changes on their own have little impact on the trend. Couples say they are put off by high costs of raising a child, disruption to their jobs, and the need to look after elderly parents. China, along with Thailand and some other Asian economies, faces what economists call the challenge of whether they can get rich before they get old. The Chinese population, which is 1.4 billion already, was expected to peak later this decade and start to decline. Census data released on May 11 suggest that is happening faster than expected, adding to burdens on under-funded pension and health systems and cutting the number of future workers available to support a growing retiree group. The share of working-age people (15 to 59 years) in the population fell to 63.3% last year from 70.1% a decade earlier. The group aged 65 and older grew to 13.5% from 8.9%. The 12 million births reported last year was down nearly one-fifth from 2019. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 2,81,06,435 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 3,29,970. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [[ ] Talking Politics With Nistula Hebbar | Resentment in Lakshadweep over new law proposals]( [[India is said to be an early adopter in audio apps with a fifth of users keen on using the technology in its current form, according to a study by research firm YouGov] The dawn of social audio apps and their relevance to users]( [[The clouds are drifting over “Mont Mercou,” a cliff face that NASA's Curiosity rover has been studying. 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