Centre told to reply on jab purchase, pricing, disparity in digital reach for CoWIN registration
You can’t just say that you’re the Centre and you know what’s right. We have a strong arm to come down on this,” the Supreme Court told the Centre on Monday, posing a series of questions the vaccine purchase policy, differences in pricing of vaccines, and reach of registration through CoWIN App at rural areas.
The special bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindrabhat said that since the Centre has made CoWIN registration mandatory for vaccination, how it is going to address the issue of digital divide facing the country.
“We are not framing policy. There’s an order of 30th April that these are the problems. You will be flexible. You can’t just say that you’re the Centre and you know what’s right. We have a strong arm to come down on this,” Justice Chandrachud told the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, when the latter said that these are policy issues on which the court has limited judicial review power.
“You keep on saying the situation is dynamic but policymakers must have their ears on ground. You keep on saying digital India, digital India but the situation is actually different in rural areas. How will an illiterate labourer from Jharkhand get registered in Rajasthan? Tell us how you will address this digital divide,” the bench sought to know.
Mehta replied that registration is mandatory as a person needs to be traced for a second dose and as far as rural areas are concerned, there are community centres where a person can get registered for vaccination. The bench asked the Centre to place the policy document before it on record.
“If we say there is a problem, we expect you to look into it. Digital literacy in India is far from perfect. I am the Chairman of the (Supreme Court) e-Committee. I have seen the problems which afflict this. You have to be flexible and keep your ear to the ground,” said Justice Chandrachud.
“You must smell the coffee and see what is happening across the country. You must know the ground situation and change the policy accordingly. If we had to do it, we would have done it 15-20 days back” said the Bench, expressing displeasure on the affidavits filed by the Centre.
The judges questioned whether the Government thinks that this process is viable and asked him to place the policy document on record.
The apex court was hearing a suo motu case on the management of Covid situation in the country.
Expressing displeasure on the pricing differences in the purchase of vaccines by Centre and the States, the judges asked the Centre about the vaccine procurement policy of the Centre by referring to the fact that states like Punjab and Delhi are in the process of issuing global tenders to procure foreign vaccines for Covid-19. The bench said that even Municipal Corporation like Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received bids.
“Is this the policy of the Central Government that the State or a municipal corporation can procure the vaccine or the Union Government is going to procure for them like a nodal agency? We want clarity on this and rationale behind this policy,” the bench said.
“Several States are issuing global tenders to procure foreign vaccines for Covid-19 and is this policy of the central government?” the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. On the Centre’s procurement policy, it referred to the fact that states like Punjab and Delhi are in the process of issuing global tenders to procure foreign vaccines for Covid-19. The bench said even municipal corporation like BMC has received bids. “Is this the policy of the central government that the state or municipal corporation can procure the vaccine or the Union Government is going to procure for them like a nodal agency? We want clarity on this and rationale behind this policy,” the bench said.
It asked the law officer to address dual pricing policy and said, “We have some concerns. Now we have a spectacle, where different municipal corporations, different states are issuing global tenders. We want to know, is this the policy of the Government of India... Does the Centre contemplate that for the procurement for foreign vaccines, that there will be individual states or corporations submitting bids or are you going to be a nodal agency for the bids?”
It said: “Till date, we have not seen the policy document which articulates this. We want to see the files. We want to know the rationale. To say that the Centre will procure at a lesser price, and manufacturers are free to sell it at a particular price to others, we want to know the rationale.”
The court pointed out that India has a federal structure and the individual states cannot be “left in the lurch” and the Centre should procure and distribute it among the states. “What is the vaccine policy of India. Do you treat yourselves as one National Agency and procure for the States or have the States been left on their own,” the bench asked.
The bench also heard submissions from senior advocates and amicus curiae - Jaideep Gupta and Meenakshi Arora - on various aspects related to Covid-19 management in the country and asked the Centre to file an affidavit within two weeks on issues raised and discussed during the hearing. The top court was hearing a suo motu case on the management of the Covid-19 situation in the country.