Summary:
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said prima facie there is weight in the claim of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) to declare all people associated with the judicial functioning, including judges, court staff and lawyers as frontline workers so that they could receive COVID-19 vaccination on priority and without limitations of their age or physical condition. The high court, which initiated on its own a public interest litigation on the basis of a communication received from the BCD, said there is a clear pattern emerging that the number of COVID-19 positive cases increases with greater intermingling and congregation of people. It said premises and court rooms of the Delhi High Court, which is scheduled to resume physical functioning from March 15, and some of the district courts are air-conditioned and with increased footfall, there is likelihood of the rate of infection amongst those who attend the courts spiking, once the full-fledged physical functioning of courts in Delhi resumes. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli, in an order made available late night, said it would be necessary to ascertain the availability of the two vaccinations in use in India, namely COVISHIELD and COVAXIN manufactured by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech..