Kerala High Court on Monday wondered what was wrong in Covid-19 vaccination certificates carrying the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was elected to power by the people of the country.
Examining the maintainability of a plea seeking removal of the Prime Minister’s picture from the certificate, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan asked the petitioner whether he was ashamed of the Prime Minister.
The judge said the Prime Minister was elected to power by the people of the country and, therefore, there was nothing wrong in having his photograph on the certificate.
When the petitioner’s counsel told the court that there was no such practice in other countries, the judge remarked: “They may not be proud of their PMs, we are proud of our PM.”
“Why are you (petitioner) ashamed of the Prime Minister? He came to power through the mandate of the people... we may have different political views, but he is still our PM,” the court added.
The counsel for the petitioner, Peter Myaliparampil, said the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and, therefore, it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual.
He contended that the Prime Minister’s photo on the certificate was an intrusion into an individual’s private space.
To this, the court said more than 100 crore people of the country did not appear to have a problem with having the Prime Minister’s photo on the certificate, and asked the petitioner: “Why do you?”
The court said it would examine whether the plea had any merits and, if not, it would dispose of the matter.
During the hearing, advocate Ajit Joy, appearing for the petitioner, said whether to be proud of one’s Prime Minister or not was a personal choice.
Joy also told the court it was not a matter of political differences as the Supreme Court had laid down guidelines for advertisements and campaigns using public money.
He said having the photo on the certificates would also influence voters and this issue was raised during the recent state Assembly elections.
The central government opposed the plea by saying it was a publicity interest litigation.
The petitioner, a senior citizen, has contended in his plea that the Prime Minister’s photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights.