Disposed¶26

Court on Its Own Motion v. State of Hp and Others

Himachal Pradesh HC4 Jun 2026CWPIL/104/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Himachal Pradesh High Court suo motu public interest litigation CWPIL No.104 of 2024 on availability of Hepatitis B vaccine for adults in Government Hospitals; NVHCP/MOHFW guidelines limit adult vaccination to healthcare workers and high-risk groups (FSW, MSM, TG, IDU) with newborn coverage under UIP; Court directed the State to place advance requisitions with the Union of India for adequate dosages; PIL disposed of on 04.06.2026 with liberty to the State to requisition vaccine across all Districts.

What did the court decide?

Liberty to the State to make requisition of Hepatitis B vaccines as and when required, across the State for all Districts; pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, also stand disposed of accordingly. ¶26

Court on Its Own Motion Vs State of Hp and Others — Himachal Pradesh HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

¶1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA

¶2

CWPIL No.104 of 2024 Decided on : 04.06.2026

¶3

Court on its own motion ...Petitioner

¶4

Versus

¶5

State of HP and Ors. …Respondents.

¶6

Coram

¶7

Hon’ble Mr. Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice.

¶8

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bipin Chander Negi, Judge.

¶9

Whether approved for reporting?¹

¶10

For the petitioner :	Ms. Shivani Priya, Advocate, as Amicus Curiae.
For the respondent(s) :	Mr. Gobind Korla, Addl. Advocate General, for respondents No.1 to 4/State.
	Mr. Balram Sharma, Deputy Solicitor General of India, for respondent No.5- Union of India.

¶11

G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice (Oral)

¶12

The present Public Interest Litigation was entertained

¶13

on account of a representation received on 13.11.2024. A request was made to issue necessary directions to ensure the availability of Hepatitis B Vaccine for adults in Government Hospitals. The lack of vaccines undermines this initiative.

¶14

Today, an affidavit of Dr. Narotam Singh, Consultant, National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, has been filed. From

¶15

1 Whether the reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the Judgment? Yes

¶16

-2-

¶17

the perusal of the same, it is evident that Hepatitis B Vaccination for adults is not recommended as per the current guidelines of the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP), issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India.

¶18

A reference in this respect has been received on

¶19

30.03.2026 by way of email. The same reads as under:-

¶20

“Hepatitis B is a vaccine preventable disease. Hepatitis B Vaccine is being administered to the newborns as per the prescribed regimen under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP). Under NVHCP, Hepatitis B Vaccine is recommended for the healthcare workers in the government healthcare facilities, as well as for high-risk groups including Female sex workers (FSW), Men who have sex with men (MSM). Transgender (TG) persons and Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) screened negative for HBsAg. It is also to mention that around 90-5% of adult acquired Hepatitis B infection clears spontaneously. As per the current national NVHCP guidelines issued by the MOHFW, Hepatitis B Vaccination is not recommended for all adult individuals, as central procurement requires a lead time of 12 months for procurement of vaccine for above mentioned groups.”

¶21

From the above, it would be clear that certain set of persons have been identified, who would require Hepatitis B Vaccine.

¶22

Resultantly, we are of the considered opinion that it

¶23

is for the State to make requisite requisitions as such with the

¶24

-3-

¶25

Union of India well in advance, so that there can be enough dosages of Hepatitis B Vaccines available for administering to the persons, who require the same.

¶26

Accordingly, the present Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is disposed of with liberty to the State to make requisition of the Hepatitis B vaccines, as and when required, across the State for all Districts. Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, also stands disposed of accordingly.

¶27

(G.S. Sandhawalia) Chief Justice

¶28

(Bipin Chander Negi) Judge

¶29

04^th June, 2026 (Gaurav Rawat)

Court on Its Own Motion v. State of Hp and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Court on Its Own Motion v. State of Hp and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Saroop Singh Vs the State of Hp and Others

State of Hp Vs Rangila Ram

State of Hp and Another Vs Daleep Kumar Thakur

Adesh Bhardwaj Vs SBI and Another

State of Hp and Others Vs Tara Devi and Another

Safex Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. Vs Sml Limited