Provide oxygen forthwith to hospitals by whatever means, Delhi High Court tells Centre

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said responsibility to ensure oxygen supply is squarely on Central government shoulders

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday slammed the Centre over its "inability" to immediately divert oxygen supply to hospitals from industries, asking if human lives are not important for the government.

"We are shocked and dismayed that the government does not seem to be mindful of extremely urgent need of oxygen supply," a bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said.

The court told the Union government to beg, borrow or steal but ensure sufficient supply of oxygen as people cannot be left to die.

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"Today, we are in a dire state. Today we are in a situation that we might lose thousands of lives. As a government, it’s your responsibility to supply oxygen for patients. It’s your duty," the bench told the Centre's counsel.

The court was hearing an urgent plea by Max Hospitals on Wednesday evening as they claimed to have been left with just two-three hours of oxygen against 1,400 Covid patients.

The bench said the Centre should take over production of oxygen from steel and petroleum plants, even if it meant that such industries had to stop production for sometime.

"If Tatas can divert oxygen meant for its captive plant, why can't others do so? There is no sense of humanity left. What are we looking at?" the bench asked.

The court also pulled up the Centre on relying upon a policy decision that captive plants can use their own oxygen.

"It is the responsibility of State to arrange the supply. You cannot say we can arrange this much and people have to die. We cannot accept that. We cannot see people dying because oxygen is not available," the bench said.

The court directed the Union government to ensure safe and unobstructed passage of oxygen from base of production to recipients throughout the country. It also asked the Delhi government to provide logistical support in the process.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the government was doing everything possible for ensuring supply of oxygen. The concerns of Max Hospital will be addressed. Senior Cabinet Minister has spoken to the Delhi Dy CM in this regard, he said.

Additional Secretary and in-charge of oxygen supply, Sumita Dawra, submitted before the court that the production of oxygen was at 8,000 MT now. The officer, who herself was suffering from the Covid-19 infection, joined the proceedings through video conferencing. She submitted that the allocation of oxygen for Delhi has been raised from 370 MT to 480 MT on Wednesday.

The court, which heard the matter till 10.40 pm, would take it up again on Thursday.