The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said people deliberately avoiding vaccination against COVID-19 are placing themselves at a higher risk of contracting and transmitting the virus.

A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Abhay Ahuja dismissed a petition filed by seven employees of Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) challenging a circular of June this year making it compulsory for employees who were not vaccinated against coronavirus to produce negative RT-PCR test reports every 10 days.

The court in its order noted that while the petitioners' decision to not get vaccinated is well respected, it does not mean they are entitled to the same treatment the MPT gives to vaccinated persons.

The bench noted that the generally accepted medical opinion by international and state agencies and governments across the world is that COVID-19 vaccination not only gives significant protection against contracting the disease, but also significantly reduces the risk of transmission.

"It is therefore logical and reasonable to regard unvaccinated persons as posing a significantly greater risk of infection and transmission of COVID-19 than vaccinated persons," the court said.

The HC said no vaccination is 100 per cent effective in preventing diseases but the risk of such infections occurring is greatly reduced in vaccinated persons and is significantly higher in unvaccinated persons.

"it is reasonable for a large organisation such as MPT to require a higher degree of checking and monitoring of the COVID-19 status of unvaccinated persons, said the bench, which also called the requirement of periodically producing negative RT-PCR test reports as a reasonable restriction on fundamental rights of the petitioners to carry out their occupation or trade".

"We are convinced that persons taking a conscious decision not to vaccinate themselves are effectively deciding to place themselves at a greater risk of contracting and/or transmitting the disease than a vaccinated person," the order said.

As per the circular issued by MPT, unvaccinated employees will not be permitted to attend work without producing RT-PCR test reports, which will be valid for 10 days.

The petitioners challenged the circular saying it discriminated between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees and, therefore, was violative of their fundamental rights. The petitioners also contended that vaccination is a voluntary act and that they cannot be compelled to vaccinate themselves.

Their plea further claimed that no meaningful distinction can be made between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons and that both stand on the same footing in terms of their likelihood to transmit COVID-19.

Lawyer Rajul Jain, appearing for MPT, opposed the petition saying vaccination provides strong protection against infection and transmission of COVID-19, and also told court that MPT provided free vaccinations to its employees and the vast majority of them have got vaccinated.

Jain said vaccination is voluntary and, therefore, MPT was not compelling employees to get vaccinated, but as an alternative, unvaccinated employees have been directed to periodically produce test results certifying they are free of COVID-19.