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Bombay High Court continued hearing plea seeking door to door vaccination policy, focussing advanced age citizens, bed ridden, disabled, third gender and citizens not having any Identity Cards.

The petition is moved by Advocate Dhruti Kapadia, appearing as petitioner in person.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni, while hearing the matter today, said even if Centre does not formulate a policy upon it, the High Court gives “green signal” to the State to carry out door-to-door vaccination as per a defined plan.

On the recommendation of moving bed ridden or ailing senior citizen through a stretcher, Chief Justice said,

“I am not too aware of Bombay, but I can tell about my home city, North Calcutta. No stretcher can get inside the buildings there. If someone is bed ridden and has to be brought out by a stretcher, and there is no space for a stretcher to get in, how do you ensure vaccination in this case? I am sorry, they may be experts but they have zero knowledge of the ground reality.”

ASG Anil Singh represented the Union.

Submissions were placed relying on Expert Committee Report.

“Where is the recommendation of Expert Committee? Why is it not possible for you to carry out a door to door vaccination policy? Where is the reason… you have to show us the reason”, the Court remarked.

Advocate Kapadia, raised the following concerns/solutions emerging from the State’s reply;

1. No leverage of walk-in inoculation
2. No clarity on inclusion of transgender persons
3. Overcrowding at vaccination Centres
4. Reference can be drawn to other countries for ensuring the proposed process
5. Helpline number should be put in place for the said purpose

It was also added by the learned counsel that consent can be obtained from family members and doctors with respect to the ailing elderly and bed ridden citizens.

Earlier, the bench through its order dated May 13 granted two weeks to the Centre to relook into its decision of not initiating a door-to-door vaccination policy.

“Considering such difficult times, as to what is in store for the human race is certainly our destiny. The sunshine in such darkness, is that the entire human race and the citizens of the globe stand united to encounter the pandemic. The need today, is of a collective responsibility of the citizens, to help each other, wherever they are and whatever they do and to take every possible step so that human pain, agony and suffering is reduced and the pandemic controlled”, Court pertinently noted in its previous Order.

The matter is listed for final orders tomorrow at 2 PM.