Teachers should be vaccinated against covid-19, says Madras High Court

PTI, Nov 23, 2021, 10:16 AM IST

Representative Image (Credit: AP)

Chennai: Teachers in Tamil Nadu should get first vaccinated, before going to schools to teach students, the Madras High Court observed on Monday.

If the instructors want to go to school, they must get vaccinated first in the interest of students, so as to protect them from the dreaded disease, the court said.

”If some teachers do not want to get vaccinated for personal reasons, he/she can remain at home without going to school and putting the lives of students at risk,” the first bench of Acting Chief Justice M N Bhandari said.

The bench was dismissing as withdrawn, a PIL petition from the Academic Resources Advancement Movement Trust, which opposed a state government order, stipulating that all the teachers should get vaccinated before attending schools. It was against the order of the Centre, which stated vaccination was only voluntary, the petitioner contended.

The ACJ felt the plea did not appear to be in the public interest. In fact, it was against the public interest. Fearing dismissal of the case, the petitioner opted to withdraw the same and the bench allowed the plea and dismissed it as withdrawn.