The Kerala HC on Monday said other countries don’t have their Prime Minister’s picture on vaccine certificate because they are not proud of their Prime Minister like Indians are after a petitioner filed a plea seeking removal of Narendra Modi’s photograph from Covid vaccine certificates.
The acerbic remarks were made by the court after the petitioner contended that vaccination certificates issued in other countries do not contain the photographs of their respective leaders.
“They are not proud of their PM, we are proud of ours. He became PM because of the mandate of the people. We have different political opinions but he is still our prime minister,” the judge said.
Justice PV Kunhikrishnan came down hard against the petitioner, asking him why he seemed to be ashamed of the Prime Minister, who was elected to the office by millions of Indians.
“Why are you ashamed of your Prime Minister? 100 crore people don’t seem to have an issue with this so why do you? I am just trying to understand”, Justice Kunhikrishnan asked.
Kerala HC asks petitioner why did he not stood to get Nehru’s name removed from his institution
The court also took a swipe at the petitioner after it found that the petitioner was working with an institution named after former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Taking a dig at the petitioner, the court asked him why did he not display the same zeal in getting his institution’s name changed.
“Why are you not taking a stand to remove the name of Nehru from that institution. Modi is our Prime Minister. You may have political differences. But, I can’t understand what is the problem with Prime Minister’s photo in the certificate?” the court asked the petitioner.
‘PM Modi’s picture on vaccine certificate violated my fundamental rights’: Petitioner
A petition was filed by an RTI activist, who alleged that he had received paid COVID-19 vaccination from a private hospital. After his inoculation, he received a vaccination certification with PM Modi’s photograph affixed on it, along with the message: “medicine and strict controls (in Malayalam), together India will defeat COVID-19 (in English)”.
The petitioner, through his lawyer Ajit Joy, argued that PM Modi’s photograph on the vaccination certificate which he had paid for, is a violation of his fundamental rights as he can be considered as captive audience. He said in the petition that PM Modi’s picture on certificates goes against his free speech right, including the right against compelled listening, protected by Article 19 of the Constitution of India.
