Can't leave people in the lurch: SC declines to interfere with order to supply 1200 MT oxygen to Karnataka

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with the Karnataka High Court's May 5 order to the Centre to supply 1200 MT of oxygen to the state, saying we can't leave people in the lurch over there.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said the High Court can't remain silent to the needs of the people reeling under the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

The top court rejected a contention Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Centre that if the High Courts started giving directions for oxygen supply, it would become unworkable and would finally lead to chaos.

"The High Court has furnished adequate reasons for issuing a calibrated direction. The direction of the High Court is evidently an ad-interim direction, subject to such calibration as would be necessitated after the State of Karnataka and the Union Government have mutually attempted to resolve the issue," the bench said in its written order.

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The top court also pointed out allocation for Karnataka stood at 802 MT prior to April 30 and has been increased to 856 MT from May 1 and 965 MT from May 5 2021. The minimum requirement of the State, as projected by the State Government on May 5 was 1162 MT.

It also noted the Karnataka government had projected 1800 MT oxygen if cases climbed to 3.95 lakh.

On Thursday, Karnataka recorded 50,112 fresh infections and 346 deaths.

Mehta, for his part, maintained that the government will have to take a holistic pan-India approach in the matter. He said the Union Government was willing to engage with the state government and convene a meeting for resolving the demand of Karnataka for the supply of oxygen.

"We want to avoid grave injustice to people. Judges are also humans. They must have seen deaths at Kalaburgi and other places. Please understand the human aspect," the bench told Mehta.

"We have told you that a committee is being formed (to assess the need of oxygen) but till then we cannot ask High Courts to shut their eyes to it," the bench said, declining to entertain the Centre's petition.

In its plea, the Centre claimed that the Karnataka High Court's order would have a "cascading effect resulting into a total collapse of the system" in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. It said the High Court's order was to be set aside as it "would ultimately lead to mismanagement of resources and create a further chaotic environment in an already overburdened system".

On May 5, the Karnataka High Court had asked the state government to send an immediate representation to the Centre with a projected estimate of oxygen required for a week. Till it was done, the oxygen supply cap should be raised to 1200 MT per day with immediate effect, it had ordered.