NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Friday sought the AAP government’s response on a plea by a school teacher opposing the mandatory vaccination requirement to resume work at schools.
The plea sought the court’s intervention and a direction to the authorities not to force him to get vaccinated for Covid, arguing that the teacher suffered from some ailment and inoculation might worsen the medical condition.
Justice Rekha Palli issued notice to Delhi government and asked it to reply to the petition and listed the matter for hearing in February next year.
The petitioner, who is a teacher at a government school, challenged Delhi government’s order making it mandatory for all school staff to be vaccinated for Covid-19 by October 15, failing which they would not be allowed to attend school and their absence would be treated as “on leave”.
The petitioner said he was diagnosed with hand dystonia in 2018 and allopathic treatment did not show any signs of improvement, instead his condition worsened. He added that, on August 31, he was served with a show cause notice from the head of the school as to why he had not gotten himself vaccinated and asked to state the reason.
In response, the teacher submitted that, according to the central government guidelines, vaccination was voluntary and not mandatory and requested the authorities not to compel him for the same.
