Greeva Garg –
The Gauhati High Court has directed the Arunachal Pradesh Government to introduce certain provisions in the administration of the COVID vaccine, to prioritize and attend to persons of the age above 18 years with disabilities within the time frame of 4 weeks.
The Bench headed by Justice Nani Tagai, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) observed that, “I propose to dispose of this Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the motion stage itself by directing the respondent authorities to make provision for giving priority in attendance and inoculation of the persons with disabilities, with Covid-19 vaccine, should the persons with disabilities above 18 years of age, volunteers for such vaccination, as mandated under Section 25(1)(c) of the Act of 2016, within the period of 4 weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order which shall be furnished by the petitioner to the authority concerned within 7 days from today.”
The PIL was filed by a lawyer who is also a social activist, who sought priority vaccination of COVID for disabled people above the age of 18 years in the State of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Court observed and analysed all the submissions of the petitioner through his PIL, in regard to the provisions of the Rights to Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
The Court disposed of the PIL after directing the appropriate Government and Local Authorities to modify its administrative provisions and functions as per the directions of the Court regarding COVID vaccination to disables above 18 years of age.
