Mahima
The Delhi High Court reprimanded the centre after highlighting the government’s responsibility to provide medical facilities with oxygen.
The division bench comprising of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli was hearing the urgent plea by Balaji Medical and Research Centre seeking urgent directions regarding oxygen supply in hospitals run by it, namely Max Hospitals.
Justice Sanghi remarked, “Citizen can only fall back on the State. So you have to beg, borrow or steal and ensure the protection of fundamental emergency”.
This remark was a response to the submission of the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that a time frame was given to ban the use of industrial oxygen as they require around 72 hours to shut down their operations.
Justice Rekha remarked, “It is a national emergency. You can direct industries with oxygen to divert”.
Senior advocate Rahul Mehra representing Delhi Government submitted, “For 8 hours at borders, our vehicles were not allowed to reach Delhi. I’m telling the ground situation. I’m grateful to Central Govt for 140 MTs. We have to micro manage every situation. We have to fight for each vehicle. Allocation is not good if we are unable to take it to the final destination. It is the hospital which says only 2-3 hours are left. How can I as state go against the medical reality?”
Additional Secretary of the industries Department, Sunita Dawra informed the bench that the Centre has passed an order today to raise the allocation of oxygen for Delhi to 480MT from 370MT.