Supreme Court Rejects PIL on Bharat Biotech Vaccine Data

Supreme Court Rejects PIL on Bharat Biotech Vaccine Data

New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by S Srinivasan in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 289 of 2016, which requested segregated data from the Phase-III double-blind clinical trial results of Bharat Biotech's Rotavirus Vaccine.

The SC examined the arguments on their merits and concluded that the writ petition represented a roving inquiry by the petitioner. Furthermore, the petitioner failed to disclose all relevant facts before the Court. The Court emphasized that it had already decided on a similar issue in the case of Jacob Puliyel v Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 607 of 2021, and reaffirmed that it cannot re-evaluate the analysis conducted by high-level technical teams appointed by the Government of India.

Key Points:

  • The petition was dismissed for not demonstrating essential public interest.
  • The Court had previously dealt with similar issues in the Jacob Puliyel case.
  • The petitioner was found to have not disclosed all relevant facts.
  • The analysis by government-appointed technical teams is upheld.

The current petition, which sought similar reliefs, had previously been filed by Dr. Jacob Puliyel in the Delhi High Court. That court dismissed the petition, finding it misconceived and driven by private interests. The Supreme Court, in its ruling, echoed these sentiments, noting that no case had been made to show that disclosing the segregated data was essential for public interest.

Additionally, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by Dr. Jacob Puliyel on the grounds that, as a member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, he could not maintain a petition in public interest.

This ruling underscores the judiciary's position that expert analysis conducted by appointed government teams should not be overridden by individual inquiries unless a substantial public interest is demonstrated. The Court's decision helps to maintain the integrity of clinical trial processes and the assessments conducted by technical experts.