The Kerala high court on Friday has sought the views of the Centre on a petition seeking a declaration that PM Narendra Modi’s photo on the Covid-19 vaccination certificates violates the fundamental rights of citizens.
In a plea, filed by Peter Myaliparampil from Kerala’s Kottayam, the petitioner sought a court directive to issue a vaccination certificate without Prime Minister Modi’s photograph.
On Friday, after considering the petition during the admission hearing, justice PB Suresh Kumar directed the Union and state governments to inform their views in a period of two weeks.
The petitioner produced copies of vaccination certificates issued in the US, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, and Kuwait, France, and contended that the certificates issued by these countries only carry necessary information and nothing more.
The petitioner has to carry with him the vaccinantion certificate to several places and PM Modi’s photo in the certificate has no utility or relevance, the petition said.
The plea filed through advocate Ajit Joy further said that national campaign against Covid-19 is being converted into a media campaign for the prime minister and it is an attempt to show the campaign as a one-man show, and it is propaganda to project an individual at state expense.
“The petitioner particularly considers that he has a right to get a certificate without the photograph of the prime minister, especially because he has paid for it and the central government or the prime minister cannot claim to have done anything but their duty,” the petition stated as reported by Times of India. The Prime minister’s photograph is a needless intrusion into the private space of the petitioner, he contended.
(Inputs from TOI)
