India Court Rules No Mandatory Vaccine, Must Get ‘Informed Consent’

The Delhi High Court ruled that the MR vaccine can’t be administered without parental consent. The MR vaccine includes vaccines for both measles and rubella.

The parents of six children petitioned the court over the matter of compulsory vaccines which directly challenged the December 19 Delhi government’s rule mandating them. The ruling affected children 9 months to 15 years of age residing in the Dehli and NCR regions.

The petition claims that the government’s reasoning for the ruling runs counter to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s has said in the past vaccines should not be mandatory in nature. The petition argues for “informed consent” of vaccines. Justice Vibhu Bakhru agreed with the spirit of the petition, hence, handing down the ruling that by default cancels mandatory vaccination. The court ruled that informed consent must be given before a vaccine is administered.

The leader of the petition, Abhinav Mukherjee, said the original state of the law violated ‘bodily autonomy’ and ‘informational privacy.’

“It is settled principle that choice of an individual, even in cases of life-saving medical treatment, is an inextricable part of dignity which ought to be protected… The law and procedure, authorizing any kind of interference with personal liberty and right to privacy, must also be right, just and fair and not arbitrary, fanciful and oppressive,” the petition said.

The MR is an extension, or follow-up vaccine, to the MMR vaccine.