A criminal petition was filed before the Bombay High Court on Wednesday seeking Z-plus category security for Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, as he is allegedly facing threats from chief ministers and businessmen over the supply of the Covishield vaccine against COVID-19.
Datta Mane, an advocate, has filed the petition seeking a direction from the court to register an FIR against those threatening Mr. Poonawalla and provide security to him and family. The plea, which has relied on news reports, stated, “Mr. Poonawalla was getting aggressive calls from powerful people including chief ministers, business tycoons demanding instant supplies of Covishield which is among the two vaccines being used in the mass inoculation drive in India.”
The petition also mentioned a quote from an interview of Mr. Poonawalla: “Threats is an understatement. The phone calls are the worst thing. The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming. Everyone feels they should get the vaccine. They can’t understand why anyone should get it before them.”
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Mr. Mane mentioned another news report on Mr. Poonawalla being granted Y category security by the Home Ministry. However, the security was granted when he had already left the country. The plea sought a thorough independent investigation into the threat calls made to Mr. Poonawalla. Mr. Mane said the call detail records need to be retrieved to spot the culprits.
He has also filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Pune, and the Director General of Police by email on May 3 owing to the lockdown.