Is Aadhaar mandatory for prisoners to get COVID-19 vaccine? Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Centre and the Maharashtra government to clarify if an Aadhaar card was mandatory for prisoners to get the vaccine against COVID19Prison inmates should not be denied the vaccine because they did not have an Aadhaar card the HC said and observed that making the document mandatory for prisoners for the vaccine was an important policy issue that would have panIndia ramificationsA bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni raised the query after it was informed that several prisoners were missing inoculation due to lack of a valid Aadhaar cardThe bench was hearing a public interest litigation PIL taken up suo motu on its own on containing the spread of COVID19 in prisons across Maharashtra The court said as per common sense an Aadhaar card is required for getting the vaccine to help collate data and keep track of those getting the vaccine shotsHowever given that the vaccine was the surest and most costeffective way of containing the spread of the virus inmates must not be denied the vaccine because they did not have an Aadhaar card the high court saidIf the Aadhaar card is coming in the way then let Aadhaar registration camps be organised then and there in prisons or vaccination centres for inmates and such cards be issued the bench saidIt directed Advocate General AG Ashutosh Kumbhakoni who appeared for the state government to discuss the issue with the Centres counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh and inform the HC of their stand by May 4Making the Aadhaar card mandatory for prisoners for the vaccine was an important policy issue that would have panIndia ramifications the high court saidThe bench also said it would issue directions to the state high power committee HPC constituted last year to help decongest prisons in the wake of spread of the viral infection to meet more often and supervise if its recommendations were being implementedThe courts direction on the HPC came after Prof Vijay Raghavan of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and senior counsel Mihir Desai the amicus curiae in the case told the HC that the panel had met last in April 2020They also informed the court that prisons continued to be congested despite the committees guidelines on granting emergency parole and temporary bail to eligible inmatesAdvocate Desai told the HC that the Taloja prison which had 2500 inmates in 2020 currently houses 3500 prisoners Letting inmates out temporarily as per the high power committees guidelines should be an ongoing process he said To this AG Kumbhakoni said the prison authorities were letting eligible inmates out as per the guidelinesCurrently there were 26 inmates across 47 prisons in the state who were eligible for emergency parole he said adding that most of them did not wish to leaveSome feel safer inside the prison Some of them do not have the resources to sustain outside and still others have few months of sentence left and so they want to complete their entire sentence in one stretch and then leave the prison finally Kumbhakoni saidProfessor Raghavan informed the HC that trial courts were not considering the undertrial review committees suggestion on letting undertrials out on temporary bailWhile the 47 prisons in the state had a capacity to house 23000 inmates they currently had 35000 inmates he said adding that this was the situation after 10000 prisoners were released in the last one yearAG Kumbhakoni however said the suggestion should be taken with a pinch of salt Contrary to popular belief it is easier to control convicts than it is to control undertrials While most of the convicts are obedient and want to complete their sentence most undertrials keep thinking of ways to run away from the prisons he saidThe court further directed the state government to distribute adequate masks and sanitisers among the prison inmates and staff It also asked if it was possible to hold vaccination camps inside prisons instead of getting the inmates outside and making them stand in long queues for inoculationKumbhakoni said the state had got vaccination teams inside three prisons successfully But it had halted the system presently due to lack of vaccines and trained staff We will resume once the vaccine stocks and staff are made available We also feel it is safer to inoculate the inmates inside prisons Kumbhakoni saidThe court also noted that the prisons did not have adequate medical staff For instance in the Taloja prison there were only three medical personnel or doctors all of whom were practitioners of AyurvedaThe court noted that the situation was similar in other prisons also The HC asked the state to look into the issue and get back to the court on May 4 the next date of hearingAs per the submissions made during the days hearing currently 244 inmates and 117 prison staff have tested positive for coronavirusAt least 64000 RTPCR and rapid antigen tests have been conducted on prisons inmates so far of which 4000 were 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