Aadhaar card not mandatory on CoWIN portal for COVID-19 vaccination, Centre tells SC
New Delhi(PTI): The Centre Monday told the Supreme Court that Aadhaar card is not mandatory for registration on CoWIN portal for COVID-19 vaccination.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant was informed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that one of the nine identity documents including passport, Driving Licence, PAN card, Voter's Card, Ration card can be produced for vaccination.
The apex court took note of the submission and disposed of a plea filed by Siddharthshankar Sharma who claimed that Aadhaar card was being mandatorily insisted upon for administering COVID-19 vaccination on the CoWIN portal.
The apex court had on October 1, 2021 issued notice to the Centre on the PIL.
"Pursuant to this court's order dated October 1, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has filed an affidavit which records that Aadhaar card is not mandatory for registration on CoWIN portal and one of the nine identity documents can be produced... It is also recorded in the affidavit that a provision has been made for other category of persons who may not have identity cards in their possession like prison inmates, inmates at mental health institutions etc," the bench said.
"Counsel for Union submits that about 87 lakh people without ID cards have been vaccinated. The grievance of the petitioner that he was denied vaccination for non production of Aadhaar card has also been dealt in the affidavit. The Health ministry addressed a letter to Principal Secretary, Health in Maharashtra to take action against the concerned private vaccination centre which denied vaccination to the petitioner despite production of valid passport ID. The grievance of the petitioner is duly met. All concerned authorities to act in accordance with the policy of the government," it said.
The plea had sought effective and non-discriminative enforcement of the already notified rules/ policies in the entire country in a uniform manner, for the protection of the right to vaccination granted to citizen of India which is dangerously endangered on account of denial of vaccination due to non-submission of Aadhaar details to the concerned authority.
"Such actions are in blatant violation of right to life under Article 21 read with right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution and hence, the petitioner urges sympathetic indulgence of this court by way of issuing appropriate directions to direct the concerned authority to set aside the mandatory pre-condition of production of Aadhaar details from enabling administration of vaccination.., the plea said.
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Gangolli Police arrest couple in house robbery case within seven hours
Gangolli: In an operation, the Gangolli police arrested a couple accused of a house robbery within seven hours of the incident.
The accused, identified as Vinayak (41) and his wife Pramila (30) from Gujjadi, were taken into custody following a coordinated investigation by the police team.
The robbery took place on the morning of January 21 when a bag containing jewelry was stolen from a house near Trasi Beach. Among the stolen items were a 16-gram gold necklace, a 16-gram bangle, and three gold rings weighing 3 grams, with the total value of the jewelry estimated at Rs 2 lakh. The culprits fled the scene on a scooty.
Following the registration of the case at the Gangolli police station, SSI Harish R. and a team comprising officers Shantaram, Raju, Nagaraj, Raghavendra, Sandeep Kurani, Maruti Nayak, and Dinesh swiftly gathered intelligence and tracked down the suspects by 8 p.m. on the same day. The stolen gold ornaments and the vehicle used in the crime have been recovered.
The accused were presented before the court, and further legal proceedings are underway.
