Dec 22, 2021: An Indian man has gone to court to complain about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s self-promotion as the face of the country’s covid19 vaccination campaign – but on Tuesday walked away with a fine for wasting a judge’s time.

Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi has been the face of the vaccine drive and has garnered publicity, citing his government’s achievements in fighting the pandemic despite the deaths of nearly 500,000 Indians.

The Prime Minister’s has been plastered on billboards and even around passenger planes with a triumphant message celebrating the recent milestone of India’s one billion administered vaccination doses.

On the one hand there is the government led campaign and on the other, the fierce criticism leveled at his government since the pandemic began, with political opponents dryly suggesting his face should also be printed on the death certificates of Covid victims. The government has justified using the face of Modi by saying it boosts confidence among the public.

A citizen Kerala state, Peter Myaliparampil had objected to Modi’s face being printed on his vaccine certificate with a message exhorting the public to fight the coronavirus.

Myaliparampil petitioned the court saying that India’s inoculation rollout risked becoming “a media campaign” for Modi’s benefit.

Myaliparampil said he had paid for his own vaccine and the image of Modi on his certificate “served no utility or relevance”.

However, the Kerala High Court threw out the case, saying it appeared to be politically motivated and fined him 100,000 rupees ($1,322) for wasting its time.

The judge commented, “If the petitioner… is ashamed to see the picture of his prime minister, he can avert his eyes to the bottom side of the vaccine certificate,”

Since the start of the pandemic, India has recorded more than 477,000 confirmed Covid deaths, more than any other country except the United States and Brazil.

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