Kerala HC declines stay on Single Judge Decision allowing 2nd dose of Vaccine early

Shivangi Prakash-

Published On: September 27, 2021 at 16:09 IST

The Kerala High Court on Monday refused to stay a Single Judge’s ruling permitting the Second Dosage of Covishield vaccine to be administered to workers of two petitioner enterprises before the 84-day waiting period was completed.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly was considering an appeal filed by the Central Government, saying that the Single Judge had interfered with the Government’s Vaccine Programme by allowing early delivery of the vaccine.

A Single Judge had asked the Centre to adjust its vaccination portal in such a way that Petitioners could register for the second jab without having to wait the 84-day dose interval, in an Order issued earlier this month.

The Centre’s main argument in front of the Court today was that the Respondent Company’s employees were likely to have completed the required 84 days by now.

On the basis of this argument, Assistant Solicitor General P. Vijayakumar suggested that the Single Judge’s verdict did not need to be upheld any longer, and hence requested for an interim stay.

However, on behalf of the Respondents, Advocate Blaze K Jose fiercely contested the aforementioned claim, both legally and factually.

First, it was brought to the Court’s attention that the Centre had failed to comply with the Single Judge’s Judgement to date, and that it could not claim the benefit of the statute of limitations for such non-compliance, especially because they were at fault.

The Respondents additionally claimed that their employees had not yet got the second Covishield jab, as claimed by the Appellant.

The Court has rescheduled the case for a hearing on Thursday after ordering the Respondents to provide information about their employees’ vaccinations.

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