Read Time: 05 minutes

The Division Bench of Delhi High Court comprising Justice Vipin Sanghi & Justice Rekha Palli on Wednesday has registered a suo moto Public Interest Litigation for vaccinating members of Judiciary including the employees, court staff, and the advocates by treating them as “frontline workers.” The same has been registered based on the Communication of Mr. Ramesh Gupta, Chairman, Bar Council of Delhi to Hon'ble Chief Justice DN Patel dated 01.03.2021.  

“In the light of the aforesaid, prima facie, it appears to us that there is weight in the claim made by the Bar Council of Delhi for declaring all persons associated with the judicial functioning, which includes the Judges, the Court Staff and the lawyers as frontline workers, so that they could receive vaccination on priority, and without limitations of their age or physical condition. We may observe that the co-morbidities enlisted by the Government to accommodate persons falling in the age group of 45 to 60 years, taken note of hereinabove, are serious conditions from which the Judges, the Court staff and Advocates may, or may not, be suffering. Even if they are not found to be suffering from one of the co-morbidities, it does not mean that the risk of their contracting the disease and suffering serious health issues – including fatality, does not exist.”, the Bench noted. 

Thus, the Court while issuing notice to the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GNCT of Delhi; the Serum Institute of India and; Bharat Biotech remarked that it was necessary to ascertain availability of the two vaccinations COVISHIELD and COVAXIN manufactured by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech.  

“There is a clear pattern emerging that the number of COVID-19 positive cases increases with greater intermingling and congregation of people. Court premises of the Delhi High Court and some of the District Courts, and all the Courtrooms are air-conditioned. With increased footfall, there is likelihood of the rate of infection amongst those who attend the Courts spiking, once the full-fledged physical functioning of Courts in Delhi resumes.”, the Bench further observed. 

Case Title: Court On Its Own Motion v. Union of India & Ors 

Also read: Delhi High Court Directs Delhi High Court Bar Association To Constitute A Committee For Getting An Overall View On The Issue Of Hybrid Hearing