Calling it a publicity-oriented and politically motivated stunt, the Kerala high court dismissed the petition to remove PM Narendra Modi’s photo from the COVID vaccine certificate on Tuesday, December 21. 

The single-bench of justice PV Kunhikrishnan fined the petitioner 1 lakh rupees, saying, “This is a frivolous petition filed with ulterior motives and I have a strong doubt that there is political agenda also to the petitioner. This is a publicity-oriented petition. Therefore, it is a fit case to be dismissed with a heavy cost,” reported the Hindustan Times. 

He added that the photo is of India’s Prime Minister and should not be looked at as representing a political party or ideology. Such petitions waste the court’s valuable time when thousands of bail pleas and suits are already piling up in court, he said.

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The Kerala State Legal Service Authority has been authorised to initiate recovery proceedings if the petitioner fails to pay the fine within six weeks. 

The petitioner, Peter Myalparambhil, had moved the court in October, stating that having the photo on the certificate has no substance, utility or relevance, and that the document is a person’s ‘private space’ which they have certain rights over, especially when the vaccine is paid for. Moreover, the state taking credit for it is a violation of the citizen’s fundamental rights, Myalparambhil’s lawyer Ajit M Joy had said, supporting his stand by highlighting that no other country’s certificate carried a picture of the head of the government. 

The court, however, responded by saying, “He (Modi) is our Prime Minister, not the PM of any other country. He came to power through mandate. Merely because you have political differences, you cannot challenge this. Why are of ashamed of our PM? 100 crore people do not have any issue with this, so why do you?”

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He further said, “They may not be proud of their PM, but we are. He became the PM because of the mandate of the people. We may have different political opinions, but still, he is our PM,” according to the Hindustan Times report. 

Kunhikrishnan also drew a parallel with Mahatma Gandhi’s photo on the currency notes and asked if it could ever be permissible to request for its removal through a plea. Joy responded by pointing out that the PM’s photo did not have any statutory or regulatory backing, unlike the case with Gandhi’s photo, which was based on the Reserve Bank of India’s rules. 

In support of having PM Modi’s image on the certificate, the Centre’s lawyer said that it helped create general awareness among the masses.