The Supreme Court on Monday junked the PIL alleging side-effects from taking Covid-19 vaccines during the Pandemic induced by Corona virus. The top court told the counsel appearing for the PIL that he should also understand the side-effects of not taking the vaccine.
The counsel said that even in UK a suit has been filed on the side-effects like blood clotting that were attributed to the Covid-19 vaccines. The top court however dismissed the plea a mere attempt to creat sensation.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud refused to entertain the PIL and said that it does not want to rake this issue up.
"Please understand what side effects would be of not taking Vaccine," CJI Chandrachud remarked.
Justice JB Pardiwallah who was also the part of the bench asked the lawyer, "You took vaccine? Anything happened to you?"
The lawyer admittedon taking the vaccine but denied having any side-effects. The top court then dismissed the PIL as an attempt to create sensation.
The lawyer further said that there have been class action suit in other countries including the United Kingdom. The CJI then asked him to file a class action suit and not an Article 32 plea.
"What is the use of this? This is just for other purposes. We will dismiss this." CJI Chandrachud said.
Earlier a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking an examination of AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD vaccine, its side effects and risk factors by a panel of medical experts. The plea sought the study of side effects of the vaccine by an expert panel appointed by the Supreme Court.
The plea also sought directions to constitute in the interest of health safety an Medical Expert Panel comprising of medical experts from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi headed by its director and supervised by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine the COVISHEILD Vaccine side sffects and its risk factors.
It also sought directions to the Centre to establish a Vaccine Damage Payment System for the Citizens who got severely disabled as a result of a vaccination Drive during Covid-19. It further asked the Centre to compensate people who are severely disabled or died because of the side effects of Corona vaccine administered to them during Covid-19.
The petitioner sought directions to the government and states that after Covid-19 there have been increase in the cases of death due to heart attack and sudden collapse of persons.
The petition was filed after AstraZeneca’s admission in U.K. court that its vaccine has the potential to cause a rare side effect associated with blood clotting. Earlier this year, AstraZeneca admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine, developed by researchers from the Oxford University, can cause a rare side effect of blood clotting and low platelet count after immunisation.
Reportedly, the company admitted in court that a side effect called 'Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome(TTS)' could be caused by the vaccine in court while facing a lawsuit alleging severe harm and deaths caused by the vaccine.
In India, AstraZeneca's Covishield was manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute has been administered to Indians through over 175 crore doses.