The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the Center and the state government to file an affidavit in response to a writ petition seeking removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph from the COVID-19 vaccination certificates given to paid vaccine recipients. was demanded to be given.
Justice N. Nagaresh issued the direction while the petition filed by Peter Mayaliparambil, Kottayam came up for hearing.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was printed on the currency as per the rules of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), whereas the portrait of the Prime Minister was not based on any statutory provision.
According to the petition, the picture of the Prime Minister on the Kovid-19 vaccination certificate was of no use. It was only a certificate issued to confirm the vaccination status of a person. The Prime Minister’s photograph on the certificate had no relevance as can be seen from such certificates issued by other countries.
The message or motivation printed in the certificate was irrelevant as the recipient of the certificate was already convinced of its usefulness and had voluntarily taken the vaccination. In fact, the message in one of the certificates was nothing more than a ‘preach to the converts’, he said.
The petitioner also argued that he had already paid for his vaccination. As a result, they did not receive any subsidy or grant from the government on their vaccinations. In fact, it was the lack of free vaccine slots that compelled the petitioner to opt for paid vaccination.
The central government had no right to claim credit by putting the photograph of the Prime Minister in the certificate issued to the paid vaccine recipient. He said it was only a certificate issued to confirm the vaccination status of a person.
The current COVID-19 campaign was designed to gain political mileage by projecting the image of the Prime Minister. He said that the government-sponsored campaign has affected both the individual decision-making process and the decision taken by the petitioner as a voter.
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