Justice Chandrachud Tests Positive For Covid-19, Hearing On Pandemic Management Deferred By Supreme Court

Justice D Y Chandrachud, who is heading the Supreme Court’s three-judge special bench on Covid-19 management, has tested positive and is in isolation. The apex court said it has deferred May 13 scheduled hearing on “distribution of essential supplies and services during the pandemic and similar matters.” Due to the pandemic, the Supreme Court has been hearing cases via video conferencing. Four other judges of the court had tested positive in the past, and have since recovered. On May 10, the court adjourned the hearing in the Covid-19 matter to May 13 following technical glitches. On May 13, the bench was scheduled to take up an affidavit filed by the Centre in response to certain queries posed by it on April 30. The court had called for “revisiting” the Centre’s “revised” vaccine procurement policy, saying “the manner in which the current policy has been framed would prima facie result in a detriment to the right to public health, which is an integral element of Article 21 of the Constitution.” It had also sought some answers on the differential pricing of vaccines for states and the Centre.