The petitioner told the court that most of the hospitals in the network are working in dangerously low levels of oxygen supply which can lead to adverse patient incident. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna) The Delhi High Court Wednesday said the responsibility to supply medical oxygen to all the hospitals falls squarely on the shoulders of the Centre and directed it to supply the oxygen by “whatever means”.
“Beg, borrow or steal. It is a national emergency,” a division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli told SG Tushar Mehta.
The bench also asked the Centre to protect the fundamental right of citizens who are seriously ill due to Covid-19 and require medical oxygen. If necessary, the court said, the Centre should divert the entire production of oxygen from industries, particularly steel and petroleum industries.
“The demand for oxygen run by Max as well as all other hospitals dealing with Covid-19 patients has gone up manifolds. The supply of oxygen from the established sources is not able to meet the said demand,” said the court.
At the end of the hearing, the Centre assured “unobstructed passage” of oxygen tankers to Delhi from other states.
The court’s directive comes as the Delhi government, which had until Tuesday been accusing Uttar Pradesh of curbing supply of oxygen to the capital, was on Wednesday accused by Haryana of stealing oxygen from a tanker.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the management of Max Healthcare for supply of oxygen to its hospitals in Delhi. The petitioner told the court that most of the hospitals in the network are working in dangerously low levels of oxygen supply which can lead to adverse patient incident.
The court also said the central government should consider ways and means of transporting the oxygen from production plants either by creating a dedicated corridor so that the supply lines are not obstructed or even by airlifting the same from the place of production to the place of delivery.
“You cannot say that we cannot provide this much. That cannot be an answer from the State. We cannot see people dying. Every 10 days, cases are getting doubled. The ground reality is that there is a shortage today. It is evident. It is there. We cannot shut our eyes,” Court said.
Noting the present Covid situation in the country, the Court said, “We are in dire straits. We may lose thousands of lives. As a sovereign state, it is your responsibility to provide every metric tonne of oxygen. You cannot say ‘sorry turnaround, lose your life’. You have to take a step forward.”
On the central government’s submission that oxygen supply to Delhi has been increased from 378 MTs to 480 MTs, the court said, “What is the point of all this paper exercise. We do not understand. If they require 700 MTs… the number of patients has risen… It is no solace to anybody you are supplying 400 odd. We are not blaming you but you have to understand that it is an emergency. The point is the central government has all the power and resources at its command.”
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