oppn parties Supreme Court: Forced Vaccination Is Against The Law

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Supreme Court: Forced Vaccination Is Against The Law

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-05-02 10:36:28

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court today said that the government cannot force anyone to take vaccine shots as that was against the right to life and personal liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian constitution. "Bodily integrity is protected under the law and nobody can be forced to be vaccinated," the court said. It said that the restrictions imposed on individuals through vaccine mandates cannot be said to be proportionate. It asked the Centre and state governments to call back all orders restricting access to public spaces or amenities and welfare schemes for the unvaccinated. It also said that the government must publicize the adverse effects of vaccines and put all trial data in public domain.

Here it is important to note that while the vaccine drive in India is voluntary, the Centre and many state governments and their departments had imposed several restrictions on the unvaccinated. These included denying entry in public places and public transport, stopping of access to welfare schemes and in some cases even denial of crediting of salary to government staff. This amounted to coercion and a person who did not wish to be vaccinated had to take the jab to avail these services. The Supreme Court order will now change all that. But the court has also said that this is to be maintained when cases are low, as they are now, which means that if there is a surge in cases, the government can bring back the restrictions in public interest. The court said that "certain limitations on individual rights" could be imposed in the interest of community health.

The Centre argued that any such order will increase vaccine hesitancy (it must be noted that only 1% adults up to the age of 60 have taken the booster dose in India) and some state government also argued that such restrictions were necessary for the safety of all citizens, especially those using public spaces and transport, but the court thought otherwise. While the court has rightly considered Article 21 as the benchmark in deciding the case, it needs to be stated that in case of events like a pandemic it is better to think of the benefit of the entire community. Individuals have the right to take an informed decision for their benefit but in times of a pandemic, their rights must be placed under limitations if the health of the entire community is threatened by their decision.