The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (Jan 15) set aside a Delhi government circular which mandated measles-rubella (MR) vaccination for students up till the age of 15 without obtaining consent from beneficiaries and their parents.

The single-judge bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru said the vaccination campaign should be deferred till further orders of the court.

Justice Bakhru further ordered the Directorate of Education of Delhi to contact the principals of some of the schools for eliciting information pertaining to the parents who have been contacted for the campaign through class teachers and whether such details are available with the school.

The bench posted the matter for next hearing to Jan 21.

At today’s hearing, the petitioner cited various instances where the vaccines have had adverse reactions.

“The part of the notification that states that the vaccines be given without consent is clearly ultra vires of the constitution and that the vaccines cannot be forcefully administered. Consent is a precondition of vaccination.

“All the parents have to be informed the following: type of vaccines administered, contra indications and side effects of such vaccines, date of administering vaccination, person who would be administering the camp. This is to be done through means of advertisement,” the petitioner stated.

The bench was hearing a PIL challenging the notification of the Directorate of Education, Delhi government dated Dec 19, 2018 stating that the MR vaccines shall be administered without obtaining any consent of the beneficiaries or parents.

—India Legal Bureau