NEW DELHI, June 3 : The Supreme Court has asked the Union Government to clarify how the sum of Rs 35,000 crores earmarked in the Union Budget for procuring vaccines have been spent so far.

Further, the Court has asked why these funds cannot be used for giving free vaccination for those in the age group 18 to 44 years.  "The Union Budget for Financial Year 2021-2022 had earmarked Rs35000 crores for procuring vaccines. In light of the Liberalized Vaccination Policy, the Central Government is directed to clarify how these funds have been spent so far and why they cannot be utilized for vaccinating persons aged 18-44 years", the Court observed.

This significant observation was made by a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat in the suo moto case In Re Essential Distribution of Essential Supplies and Services During Pandemic.  Court questions Centre's justification on competitive pricing  The Court questioned the justification given by the Centre in its affidavit that the pricing policy has been framed to enable competitive pricing to incentivize more private manufacturers. When there are only two manufacturers to negotiate with pre-fixed prices, the Court wondered how this justification can be tenable.