Supreme Court stays Delhi High Court's contempt proceedings against officials over oxygen supply

The apex court has asked the Centre to ensure a daily supply of 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi hospitals

The Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Centre to ensure a daily supply of 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi hospitals. It, however, stayed contempt proceedings intimated against the Union government's officers, saying hauling them up would not help the people crying for support in the humanitarian crisis during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

"Putting officers in jail is not going to bring oxygen to the city, let us ensure lives are saved,” a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said, hearing an urgent plea by the Centre against Tuesday's order by the High Court.

The court, however, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to tell it by Thursday, as to how it was going to achieve the quantity of 700 MT though the Centre claimed to have supplied up to 550 MT. On April, 30, the top court had fixed 700 MT as the requirement for Delhi and directed the Centre to ensure the supply by May 3 midnight.

Also read — Putting officers in jail won't bring oxygen to Delhi, says SC; seeks info on allocation in 3 days

"When the country is facing a humanitarian crisis, the court must aim at problem-solving," the bench said.

At the same time, the court asked the Centre, "No one can dispute that some have died to oxygen shortage and that it is a national emergency. What is the plan?".

"We are answerable to citizens," the bench said, referring to the deaths of several lawyers.

The court said there must be some scientific basis to ascertain the requirement of oxygen by States on a real-time basis.

It also asked the Centre and Delhi officers to study and follow the model followed by the Brihanmumbai Mumbai Corporation to deal with a similar situation.

The court stressed that methodology, planning and proper distribution and actual availability and procurement of the oxygen are the main concerns in the entire case.

It put the matter for further hearing on Thursday.

The High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to explain why contempt action should not be initiated against it after a law officer maintained Delhi was not entitled to 700 metric tonnes of medical oxygen in the backdrop of existing medical infrastructure and requirement.