Kerala HC sends notice to govt over PM photo on vaccine certificates

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala high court on Friday sent a notice to the Union government on a petition seeking the Covid-19 certificate without Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo embossed on it.

Petitioner M Peter, a resident of Kottayam, contended that the present vaccine certificate violates the fundamental rights of a citizen and sought a certificate without the photo of the PM.

After submitting his plea Justice P B Suresh Kumar directed both, Union and state governments, to file their views in two weeks. The petitioner also produced vaccination certificates of different countries including the US, Indonesia, Israel and Germany saying they all carried necessary information, not photos of their heads of the government.

The petitioner, a frequent traveller, also said he has to carry the certificate with him to several places and the photo of the PM has “no substance, utility or relevance.” If the government is firm people can be given an option to carry the certificate without any photo.

In the petition filed through Advocate Ajit Joy he said the fight against the pandemic is converted into a public relations and media campaign and it gives an impression that it was a oneman show and whole campaign is to project an individual and that too is carried out at the expense of the public exchequer. He said he has every right to carry a vaccine certificate without the photo of the PM.

“The photograph is a needless intrusion into the private space of the petitioner. The central government or the PM cannot claim to have done anything particular, but their duty,” he contended in the petition.