The Evening Wrap: Nobody can be forced to undergo COVID-19 vaccinations, says SC

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld both the right of an individual against forcible vaccination and the government’s current vaccination policy to protect communitarian health, but found certain vaccine mandates imposed by State governments/Union Territories, which tend to deny access to basic welfare measures and freedom of movement to unvaccinated individuals, disproportionate. A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao said that such vaccine mandates wilted in the face of “emerging scientific opinion” that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection from unvaccinated individuals was almost on par with that from vaccinated persons. The court directed the Centre to set up a virtual public platform at the earliest to facilitate individuals and private doctors to report adverse vaccine events without compromising their privacy. “Information related to adverse events is crucial to create awareness about vaccines and their efficiency, apart from contributing to scientific studies about the pandemic... There is a pertinent need for collection of data on adverse events and wider participation,” Justice Rao, who authored the judgment, observed. The Bench, also comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, in a judgment, held that India’s paediatric vaccination policy against the COVID-19 virus was in tune with “global scientific consensus” and the opinions of expert bodies like the World Health Organisation, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The court said it did not want to “second guess” these expert opinions on the basis of which the government had implemented its paediatric vaccination policy. However, the court directed the Union government to ensure that the findings and results of the relevant phases of clinical trials of vaccines already approved by the regulating authorities for administration to children be made public at the earliest, if not already done. The court said the government had already disclosed segregated clinical data on phase three trials. It held that materials published by the government did “not warrant the impression that the emergency use authorisation for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines was given in haste without thorough review of the data”. The court reiterated that, subject to the protection of the privacy of individuals, with respect to ongoing and future trials, “all relevant data to be published under the statutory regime must be made available to the public without undue delay”. The Bench said though the government had a wide latitude to frame policy affecting public health based on expert medical opinion, the court could not be barred from scrutinising whether the policy was unreasonable, manifestly arbitrary and affected the right to life of individuals. The court struck a balance between individual right to bodily integrity and refuse treatment with the government’s concern for public health. “With respect to bodily integrity and personal autonomy of an individual in the light of vaccines and other public health measures introduced to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are of the opinion that bodily integrity is protected under Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution and no individual can be forced to be vaccinated,” the Supreme Court laid down. A person has the right under Article 21 to refuse treatment, the court acknowledged. “Personal autonomy of an individual, which is a recognised facet of protection guaranteed under Article 21 encompasses the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment in the sphere of individual health,” Justice Rao observed. However, when the issue extended to “communitarian health”, the government was indeed “entitled to regulate issues”. But the government’s right to regulate by imposing limits to individual rights for the sake of protecting public health was also open to judicial scrutiny. Courts had the authority to review whether the government’s interventions into the personal autonomy of an individual and right to access means of livelihood met the “three-fold” requirements as expounded in the Constitution Bench judgment in K.S. Puttuswamy case (the judgment which upheld the right of privacy as a constitutional right under Article 21). The three-fold requirements include whether the legality of the limitations imposed by the government on individual rights presupposes the existence of a law. That is, the limitations should be backed by a clear statutory law. Secondly, the need for limitations should be proportionate to a legitimate State aim. Thirdly, there should be rational nexus between the State’s objectives for imposing the restrictions and the means adopted to achieve them. The court concluded that the Union government’s current vaccination policy met the requirements and “cannot be said to be unreasonable and manifestly arbitrary”. The policy reflected the “near unanimous views of experts on the benefits of vaccination in addressing severe infection, oxygen requirements, hospital and ICU admissions, mortality rate and stopping of new variants from emerging”. The judgment did not engage the argument from “certain quarters” that natural immunity offered better protection against the virus, saying “it was not pertinent for the determination of the issue before us”. The court, however, said neither the Union government nor the States had produced any “material” to counter the opinion raised in the petition filed by Jacob Puliyel, a former member of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, that a vaccinated individual could spread the virus as much as his or her unvaccinated counterpart. “In light of this, restrictions on unvaccinated individuals imposed by various vaccine mandates by the State governments and Union Territories are not said to be proportionate,” Justice Rao noted. The court hence “suggested” that, as long as the infection rate remained low or until any new development or research justified the imposition of “reasonable proportionate restrictions on unvaccinated individuals”, all authorities, including private organisations and educational institutions, review their restrictions for the time being. The judgment was a result of Dr. Puliyel’s challenge that certain vaccine mandates notified by States, including those that made vaccination a precondition for accessing any benefits or services, were violative of the rights of citizens and unconstitutional. Chirag Paswan welcomes Prashant Kishor’s entry to Bihar; JD(U) says there is no political space for him Political parties in Bihar have reacted with caution on political strategist Prashant Kishor’s announcement of beginning his political journey from Bihar. The Janata Dal (U) said there was no space for any regional or national outfit in a State where the Nitish Kumar government was functioning well. Welcoming the move, Chirag Paswan stated that there was an urgent need in Bihar for leaders who are willing to work rising above the caste lines. Speaking to The Hindu, he said Bihar was in dire need of leaders who were committed to working for its development. “Even after so many years, where the other States have progressed, Bihar is still fighting for the basic necessities. We are still struggling for roads, water connection, education, employment and medical facilities. Ultimately, it is for the State people to take the call. We need leaders who will work beyond the caste lines and compulsions of alliance politics,” he observed. JD(U) secretary general K.C. Tyagi told The Hindu, “Any individual or group of people can form any political outfit. But as far as Bihar is concerned, the government of Nitish Kumar is going very well on all the developmental indices. There is no scope for a regional or a national outfit to the Nitish model of governance in the State.” The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is watching the development from a distance like an amused spectator. “What exactly is Mr. Kishor’s objective. We so far do not know. In 2015, when Nitish Kumar was going to take oath as Chief Minister, Mr. Kishor accompanied him. Nitish ji had gone ahead and declared him as the future of Bihar and then they publicly fell out. Anyway, political parties cannot be formed overnight. You can’t simply press a button to erect an institution. We shall wait and see,” party leader Shivanand Tiwari said. Meanwhile, Mr. Kishor has started building the ground to construct his political outfit. On Monday, he met noted Right To Information (RTI) activist Shiv Prakash Rai and social activist Guddu Baba at Patna’s Sheikhpura House to discuss Bihar’s political situation. Sources close to Kishor told The Hindu that he would meet around 100 social activists, intellectuals and members of civil society from across the State in the next few days to explore possibilities of his imminent plunge into politics. Mr. Kishor is likely to meet social activist Mukesh Hisaria, Pravez Aziz, Irfan Alam and others. He is expected to visit Bihar districts from June onwards. My arrest pre-planned conspiracy designed by Godse-bhakts in PMO, act of cowardice: Jignesh Mevani “Some Godse bhakts” in the Prime Minister’s Office had got FIRs registered against him, Gujarat legislator Jignesh Mevani alleged on Monday and termed his arrest by the Assam Police a “pre-planned conspiracy” to destroy him ahead of assembly elections in the state. Mr. Mevani, who was released on Saturday, also said his arrest was an act of “56-inch cowardice” that had undermined Gujarat’s pride, an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 56-inch chest assertion. Addressing a press conference, Mevani announced that he would take to the streets and ensure a Gujarat Bandh on June 1 on a raft of issues – seeking action against those behind the leak of 22 exam papers, the recent recovery of “Rs 1.75 lakh-crore” worth of drugs from the Mundra Port, and to press for the withdrawal of all cases against Dalits in Una and against minorities in the State. “Some Godse-bhakts sitting in the PMO have got serious FIRs registered against me over my mere tweeting,” he told reporters at the Congress headquarters n New Delhi. The Independent legislator from Vadgam, who has pledged his support to the Congress, was picked up by the Assam Police from Gujarat on April 19 and taken to the northeastern state after a purported tweet that Modi “considered Godse as God”. Mr. Mevani also asked what the interest of the BJP or the prime minister could be in arresting him over a mere tweet as if he were a terrorist. “Such things are very dangerous for our democracy,” he said. Raghav Chadha, two other AAP leaders take oath as Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sanjeev Arora took oath as their party’s Rajya Sabha members from Punjab on Monday. Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu administered the oath to the newly-elected AAP members of Rajya Sabha in his chamber at Parliament House. All the three AAP leaders were elected unopposed from Punjab in March as no other political party had nominated any candidate the state for the Rajya Sabha elections. While Chadha is a senior leader of the AAP, Mittal is the founder of Phagwara-based Lovely Professional University (LPU), the first private university in the state and one of the largest in India. Chadha is considered to have played a significant role in the AAP’s stupendous victory in the Punjab assembly polls. Arora, a businessman from Ludhiana, runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust. Arora is also on the governing board of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, and a member of the apex council of the Punjab Cricket Association. 2021 Pegasus attack targeted Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez’s phone Spanish officials said on Monday that the cell phones of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister were infected last year with Pegasus spyware that is only available to government agencies in an unauthorised operation. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s mobile phone was breached twice in May 2021, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles’ device was targeted once the following month, Presidency Minister Félix Bolanos said on Monday in a hastily convened news conference. He said the breaches resulted in a significant amount of data being obtained, and that reports detailing the hacking have been transferred to Spain’s National Court for further investigation. “We have no doubt that this is an illicit, unauthorized intervention,” Bolanos said. “It comes from outside state organisms and it didn’t have judicial authorisation.” Spain’s Socialist-led Government is under pressure to explain why the cell phones of dozens of people connected to the separatist movement in the northeastern Catalonia region were infected with Pegasus between 2017 and 2020, according to Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity group of experts affiliated with the University of Toronto. The revelations involve at least 65 people, including elected officials, lawyers and activists, targeted with the software of two Israeli companies, Candiru and NSO Group, the developer of Pegasus. The spyware silently infiltrates phones or other devices to harvest data and potentially spy on their owners. The regional Catalan government has accused Spain’s National Intelligence Center, or CNI, of spying on separatists, and declared that relations with national authorities were “on hold” until full explanations are offered and those responsible are punished. The conservative Popular Party, or PP, was in office in 2017, when Catalan separatists declared independence following an unauthorised referendum, although no further action was taken to execute the declaration. PP remained in power until mid-2018, when they were ousted by Sanchez in a parliamentary vote. ERC, the main political party in Catalonia and a crucial ally of the government has called for the resignation of Robles, the Defence Minister. But the spying scandal has left them exposed to the pressure of more radical separatists, who are calling on ending the support for Sanchez’s left-to-center coalition in the national Parliament. The Central Government has attempted to temper their concerns with pledges of full transparency, announcements of plans for an internal probe by the country’s intelligence agency, and a separate investigation by Spain’s ombudsman. In Brief Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin and they reviewed the full range of bilateral ties, including giving an impetus to trade as well as cultural linkages. Berlin is the first leg of his three-nation Europe trip that will also take him to Denmark and France. The visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis, which has united much of Europe against Russia. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 02 MAY 2022 [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]( COVID-19: Supreme Court upholds individual’s right against forcible vaccination The Supreme Court on Monday upheld both [the right of an individual against forcible vaccination]( and the government’s current vaccination policy to protect communitarian health, but found certain vaccine mandates imposed by State governments/Union Territories, which tend to deny access to basic welfare measures and freedom of movement to unvaccinated individuals, disproportionate. A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao said that such vaccine mandates wilted in the face of “emerging scientific opinion” that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection from unvaccinated individuals was almost on par with that from vaccinated persons. [“We are of the opinion that bodily integrity is protected under Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution and no individual can be forced to be vaccinated,” the Supreme Court said. File] The court directed the Centre to set up a virtual public platform at the earliest to facilitate individuals and private doctors to report adverse vaccine events without compromising their privacy. “Information related to adverse events is crucial to create awareness about vaccines and their efficiency, apart from contributing to scientific studies about the pandemic... There is a pertinent need for collection of data on adverse events and wider participation,” Justice Rao, who authored the judgment, observed. The Bench, also comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, in a judgment, held that India’s paediatric vaccination policy against the COVID-19 virus was in tune with “global scientific consensus” and the opinions of expert bodies like the World Health Organisation, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The court said it did not want to “second guess” these expert opinions on the basis of which the government had implemented its paediatric vaccination policy. However, the court directed the Union government to ensure that the findings and results of the relevant phases of clinical trials of vaccines already approved by the regulating authorities for administration to children be made public at the earliest, if not already done. The court said the government had already disclosed segregated clinical data on phase three trials. It held that materials published by the government did “not warrant the impression that the emergency use authorisation for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines was given in haste without thorough review of the data”. The court reiterated that, subject to the protection of the privacy of individuals, with respect to ongoing and future trials, “all relevant data to be published under the statutory regime must be made available to the public without undue delay”. The Bench said though the government had a wide latitude to frame policy affecting public health based on expert medical opinion, the court could not be barred from scrutinising whether the policy was unreasonable, manifestly arbitrary and affected the right to life of individuals. The court struck a balance between individual right to bodily integrity and refuse treatment with the government’s concern for public health. “With respect to bodily integrity and personal autonomy of an individual in the light of vaccines and other public health measures introduced to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are of the opinion that bodily integrity is protected under Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution and no individual can be forced to be vaccinated,” the Supreme Court laid down. A person has the right under Article 21 to refuse treatment, the court acknowledged. “Personal autonomy of an individual, which is a recognised facet of protection guaranteed under Article 21 encompasses the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment in the sphere of individual health,” Justice Rao observed. However, when the issue extended to “communitarian health”, the government was indeed “entitled to regulate issues”. But the government’s right to regulate by imposing limits to individual rights for the sake of protecting public health was also open to judicial scrutiny. Courts had the authority to review whether the government’s interventions into the personal autonomy of an individual and right to access means of livelihood met the “three-fold” requirements as expounded in the Constitution Bench judgment in K.S. Puttuswamy case (the judgment which upheld the right of privacy as a constitutional right under Article 21). The three-fold requirements include whether the legality of the limitations imposed by the government on individual rights presupposes the existence of a law. That is, the limitations should be backed by a clear statutory law. Secondly, the need for limitations should be proportionate to a legitimate State aim. Thirdly, there should be rational nexus between the State’s objectives for imposing the restrictions and the means adopted to achieve them. The court concluded that the Union government’s current vaccination policy met the requirements and “cannot be said to be unreasonable and manifestly arbitrary”. The policy reflected the “near unanimous views of experts on the benefits of vaccination in addressing severe infection, oxygen requirements, hospital and ICU admissions, mortality rate and stopping of new variants from emerging”. The judgment did not engage the argument from “certain quarters” that natural immunity offered better protection against the virus, saying “it was not pertinent for the determination of the issue before us”. The court, however, said neither the Union government nor the States had produced any “material” to counter the opinion raised in the petition filed by Jacob Puliyel, a former member of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, that a vaccinated individual could spread the virus as much as his or her unvaccinated counterpart. “In light of this, restrictions on unvaccinated individuals imposed by various vaccine mandates by the State governments and Union Territories are not said to be proportionate,” Justice Rao noted. The court hence “suggested” that, as long as the infection rate remained low or until any new development or research justified the imposition of “reasonable proportionate restrictions on unvaccinated individuals”, all authorities, including private organisations and educational institutions, review their restrictions for the time being. The judgment was a result of Dr. Puliyel’s challenge that certain vaccine mandates notified by States, including those that made vaccination a precondition for accessing any benefits or services, were violative of the rights of citizens and unconstitutional. Chirag Paswan welcomes Prashant Kishor’s entry to Bihar; JD(U) says there is no political space for him [Political parties in Bihar have reacted with caution on political strategist Prashant Kishor’s announcement]( of beginning his political journey from Bihar. The Janata Dal (U) said there was no space for any regional or national outfit in a State where the Nitish Kumar government was functioning well. Welcoming the move, Chirag Paswan stated that there was an urgent need in Bihar for leaders who are willing to work rising above the caste lines. Speaking to The Hindu, he said Bihar was in dire need of leaders who were committed to working for its development. “Even after so many years, where the other States have progressed, Bihar is still fighting for the basic necessities. We are still struggling for roads, water connection, education, employment and medical facilities. Ultimately, it is for the State people to take the call. We need leaders who will work beyond the caste lines and compulsions of alliance politics,” he observed. JD(U) secretary general K.C. Tyagi told The Hindu, “Any individual or group of people can form any political outfit. But as far as Bihar is concerned, the government of Nitish Kumar is going very well on all the developmental indices. There is no scope for a regional or a national outfit to the Nitish model of governance in the State.” The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is watching the development from a distance like an amused spectator. “What exactly is Mr. Kishor’s objective. We so far do not know. In 2015, when Nitish Kumar was going to take oath as Chief Minister, Mr. Kishor accompanied him. Nitish ji had gone ahead and declared him as the future of Bihar and then they publicly fell out. Anyway, political parties cannot be formed overnight. You can’t simply press a button to erect an institution. We shall wait and see,” party leader Shivanand Tiwari said. Meanwhile, Mr. Kishor has started building the ground to construct his political outfit. On Monday, he met noted Right To Information (RTI) activist Shiv Prakash Rai and social activist Guddu Baba at Patna’s Sheikhpura House to discuss Bihar’s political situation. Sources close to Kishor told The Hindu that he would meet around 100 social activists, intellectuals and members of civil society from across the State in the next few days to explore possibilities of his imminent plunge into politics. Mr. Kishor is likely to meet social activist Mukesh Hisaria, Pravez Aziz, Irfan Alam and others. He is expected to visit Bihar districts from June onwards. My arrest pre-planned conspiracy designed by Godse-bhakts in PMO, act of cowardice: Jignesh Mevani [“Some Godse bhakts” in the Prime Minister’s Office had got FIRs registered against him, Gujarat legislator Jignesh Mevani alleged]( on Monday and termed his arrest by the Assam Police a “pre-planned conspiracy” to destroy him ahead of assembly elections in the state. Mr. Mevani, who was released on Saturday, also said his arrest was an act of “56-inch cowardice” that had undermined Gujarat’s pride, an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 56-inch chest assertion. Addressing a press conference, Mevani announced that he would take to the streets and ensure a Gujarat Bandh on June 1 on a raft of issues – seeking action against those behind the leak of 22 exam papers, the recent recovery of “Rs 1.75 lakh-crore” worth of drugs from the Mundra Port, and to press for the withdrawal of all cases against Dalits in Una and against minorities in the State. “Some Godse-bhakts sitting in the PMO have got serious FIRs registered against me over my mere tweeting,” he told reporters at the Congress headquarters n New Delhi. The Independent legislator from Vadgam, who has pledged his support to the Congress, was picked up by the Assam Police from Gujarat on April 19 and taken to the northeastern state after a purported tweet that Modi “considered Godse as God”. Mr. Mevani also asked what the interest of the BJP or the prime minister could be in arresting him over a mere tweet as if he were a terrorist. “Such things are very dangerous for our democracy,” he said. Raghav Chadha, two other AAP leaders take oath as Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab [Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sanjeev Arora took oath as their party’s Rajya Sabha members]( from Punjab on Monday. Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu administered the oath to the newly-elected AAP members of Rajya Sabha in his chamber at Parliament House. [(L-R) AAP leader Raghav Chadha, industrialist Sanjeev Arora, and Lovely Professional University Chancellor Ashok Mittal take oath as Rajya Sabha members, at Parliament House, in New Delhi, on Monday.] All the three AAP leaders were elected unopposed from Punjab in March as no other political party had nominated any candidate the state for the Rajya Sabha elections. While Chadha is a senior leader of the AAP, Mittal is the founder of Phagwara-based Lovely Professional University (LPU), the first private university in the state and one of the largest in India. Chadha is considered to have played a significant role in the AAP’s stupendous victory in the Punjab assembly polls. Arora, a businessman from Ludhiana, runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust. Arora is also on the governing board of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, and a member of the apex council of the Punjab Cricket Association. 2021 Pegasus attack targeted Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez’s phone Spanish officials said on Monday that [the cell phones of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister were infected]( last year with Pegasus spyware that is only available to government agencies in an unauthorised operation. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s mobile phone was breached twice in May 2021, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles’ device was targeted once the following month, Presidency Minister Félix Bolanos said on Monday in a hastily convened news conference. He said the breaches resulted in a significant amount of data being obtained, and that reports detailing the hacking have been transferred to Spain’s National Court for further investigation. “We have no doubt that this is an illicit, unauthorized intervention,” Bolanos said. “It comes from outside state organisms and it didn’t have judicial authorisation.” Spain’s Socialist-led Government is under pressure to explain why the cell phones of dozens of people connected to the separatist movement in the northeastern Catalonia region were infected with Pegasus between 2017 and 2020, according to Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity group of experts affiliated with the University of Toronto. The revelations involve at least 65 people, including elected officials, lawyers and activists, targeted with the software of two Israeli companies, Candiru and NSO Group, the developer of Pegasus. The spyware silently infiltrates phones or other devices to harvest data and potentially spy on their owners. The regional Catalan government has accused Spain’s National Intelligence Center, or CNI, of spying on separatists, and declared that relations with national authorities were “on hold” until full explanations are offered and those responsible are punished. The conservative Popular Party, or PP, was in office in 2017, when Catalan separatists declared independence following an unauthorised referendum, although no further action was taken to execute the declaration. PP remained in power until mid-2018, when they were ousted by Sanchez in a parliamentary vote. ERC, the main political party in Catalonia and a crucial ally of the government has called for the resignation of Robles, the Defence Minister. But the spying scandal has left them exposed to the pressure of more radical separatists, who are calling on ending the support for Sanchez’s left-to-center coalition in the national Parliament. The Central Government has attempted to temper their concerns with pledges of full transparency, announcements of plans for an internal probe by the country’s intelligence agency, and a separate investigation by Spain’s ombudsman. In Brief [Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz]( Berlin and they reviewed the full range of bilateral ties, including giving an impetus to trade as well as cultural linkages. Berlin is the first leg of his three-nation Europe trip that will also take him to Denmark and France. The visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis, which has united much of Europe against Russia. 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