The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court on Wednesday stayed the order of the Nagaland government for compulsory COVID-19 vaccination of its employees.
The bench comprising Justice Songkhupchung Serto and Justice S Hukato Swu heard a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and decided to stay the order till the next date of hearing which is after two weeks.
Notably, the Nagaland government on July 17 asked its employees to get vaccinated in order to attend office or to produce a COVID-negative report by getting tested every 15 days. Salaries of employees would be stopped if they failed to do the above. Further, they would not be allowed to attend office.
The period of absence will be treated as leave without pay, an official notification of the government stated.
During the hearing, the State government submitted that the PIL was not maintainable and must be dismissed.