Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court today dismissed a plea seeking removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph from Covid-19 vaccination certificates and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner by terming the petition as frivolous, being politically motivated and a publicity interest litigation.
While dismissing the plea, the High Court observed that ;the petition seems to be filed with political motives and a publicity motivated petition. Therefore, it deserves to be dismissed with a heavy cost.’
The court then imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh to be paid by the petitioner to the Kerala Legal Services Authority within six weeks.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan directed the petitioner — Peter Myaliparampil — to deposit the cost in favour of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KeLSA) within six weeks. The court said in case of failure to deposit the cost within the stipulated period, KeLSA shall recover the amount from his assets by initiating revenue recovery proceedings against him.
The petitioner, a senior citizen, has contended in his plea that the Prime Minister’s photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights.