The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the proceedings before the Bombay High Court on the plea seeking COVID-19 vaccination on priority basis for members of the legal fraternity.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde froze the proceedings before the High Court on a petition filed by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The SII has urged the apex court to transfer the proceedings from the High Court to itself for an authoritative decision.
The apex court listed the case for hearing after a fortnight.
On March 18, the top court had stayed the proceedings in the Delhi High Court on giving priority to the legal fraternity for administering COVID-19 vaccine.
The government had, on March 18, told the Supreme Court that prioritising COVID-19 vaccination on the basis of profession would amount to “discrimination” and was against larger national interests.
The Centre was responding to a PIL plea in the Supreme Court to include judges, lawyers and court staff in the “prioritised group of population who will get the COVID-19 vaccine first.”
“Any specific classification either based upon the nature of trade, profession or otherwise is neither possible nor advisable,” the Union Health Ministry has said in its affidavit.
It said immunisation drive is strategised to protect healthcare, the pandemic response system and minimise mortality.
“Those [in the legal fraternity] who are above 60 or between 45 to 59 and suffering from a very long and exhaustive list of co-morbidities would in any case be covered by the vaccine drive,” the government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had reasoned in March.