New Delhi10 March. The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Government to formulate a policy to provide compensation without fixing blame for serious side effects occurring after anti-Covid-19 vaccination. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said that the existing system to monitor post-vaccination side effects will continue.
Justice Nath, while delivering the judgement, said that, given the existing arrangements for scientific evaluation of post-vaccination side effects, there is no need for a separate expert body appointed by the court. The bench also clarified that its decision does not prevent a person from taking recourse to other remedies available at law.
The Supreme Court said that the government cannot be heard saying that people who have suffered serious side effects should take care of themselves without any clear or easy path to relief. The top court stressed that it is the state’s responsibility to monitor post-vaccination side effects and this duty should go beyond surveillance to include fair compensation for people who suffer vaccine-related injuries.
The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said that similarly, formulating a policy of giving compensation without determining the fault, would not amount to admission of any kind of responsibility or fault on the part of the Government of India or any other authority. The bench said that the Corona pandemic was a period of grief and distress like never before, which brought sorrow and hardships to countless families across the country.
The bench said that due to Covid-19, many lives were lost, and many families suffered grief which cannot be expressed in words. The court said that the present action is being taken after that difficult time. The Court is considering the issues raised with deep sympathy for the losses suffered during the pandemic. At the same time, he is also keeping in mind that the questions before him should be investigated carefully and within the legal framework.
The bench said that a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution was filed by the parents of the youth who were administered the COVID-19 vaccine and are said to have died thereafter. Advocate Satya Mitra fought the case on behalf of the petitioners.
The petition, among other things, sought the formation of an independent expert medical board to investigate such deaths, early detection of adverse events following vaccination (AEFI), protocols for treatment and compensation.
The bench said that it is clear from the policy adopted at the international level that governments have recognized the need to remedy vaccine-related injuries through a special compensation system. The bench said, ‘Such programs provide a speedy and fair path to relief, without which the affected people have to go through cumbersome procedures to get their claims implemented.’
The bench said that in contrast to today’s situation, there is no uniform or structured policy system in India to provide relief to people who suffer adverse effects after vaccination. “This shortcoming cannot be taken lightly, especially when vaccination programs themselves are carried out as public health measures under the authority and authority of the state.”
Justice Nath, who wrote the judgment on behalf of the bench, said, ‘This concern increases even more in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, where vaccination was done on a large scale as never before as a collective social need. In such a situation, the State cannot be heard saying that those suffering serious adverse effects will have to fend for themselves without any clear or easy route to relief. Therefore, due to the lack of a proper framework, there is a need for timely intervention, otherwise the rights of such people will remain only in theory and will not be implemented properly.
The Supreme Court ruled on petitions, one of which alleged that two women had died after taking the first dose of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine in 2021. The petition also claimed that both of them suffered serious side effects after vaccination.
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