The Supreme Court, on Friday, underlined the obligation the Centre had to comply with the court’s order to supply 700 tonnes of oxygen to Delhi every day, saying “we mean business”.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah warned the Centre from forcing the court into taking “coercive action” against it by reneging on its assurance in court to supply 700 tonnes to Delhi.
Comprehensive plan
The court’s comments came after its perusal of a tabulated chart detailing the Centre’s “comprehensive plan” for the allocation, supply and distribution of oxygen to the National Capital.
“You (the Centre) start by saying 700 MT and then as you go on you bring caveats about containers coming in, etc., …We are not container drivers here. We want 700 MT every day and we mean business,” Justice Chandrachud told Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre.
Justice Chandrachud said he and Justice Shah had a discussion before the hearing on the issue, and agreed that the court in its previous orders intended that Delhi should get 700 tonnes every day.
“We did not mean that you supply 700 MT on one day. We meant you do it every day until we further examine the modalities. Please do not drive us to a situation where we have to be firm and take the coercive way. It is 700 MT every day, every single day,” Justice Chandrachud emphasised. Mehta said he would convey the court’s observations to the authorities concerned.