The Kerala High Court on Tuesday seemed to be discouraging a plea which asked for removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's picture from Covid-19 vaccine certificates. The court said that the proposition was 'very dangerous' and could lead to a slippery slope.
The petitioner claimed that he received both his Covid-19 vaccination doses at a private hospital and argued that a vaccination certificate was his private space and he has certain rights over it. The court made rebutting observations though. It said,
“This is a very dangerous proposition. Tomorrow someone can come here and protest that they don’t like Mahatma Gandhi, and seek the removal of his image from our currency saying it’s their blood and sweat and they don’t want to see his face on it. What will happen then?”
Ajit Roy, the petitioner's lawyer said that while Gandhi’s face was printed on the currency as per the regulations of the Reserve Bank of India, there were no similar statutory provisions requiring PM Modi's face on vaccine certificates.
The petitioner, a senior citizen and an RTI activist said he received a paid Covid-19 vaccination from a private hospital. Soon after, he received his certificate as proof for the vaccination, which had the photograph of the Prime Minister of India affixed on it.
Additionally, the petitioner has requested that he may be issued with a Covid-19 vaccination certificate without the photo of the Prime Minister affixed to it. He also prayed for access to COWIN Application and to be able to generate his requested vaccination certificate whenever needed from there.
ASG sought more time to file a statement in the matter. Accordingly, the Court posted the case to be taken up on 23rd November.
Unlike other countries, India's Covid-19 vaccination certificates contain the photo of our Prime Minister. There have been instances when Indian travellers were questioned by immigration officials over the legitimacy of the certificate because it contained the photo of the Prime Minister.
