The Delhi High Court held an urgent hearing on the 'oxygen emergency' the country is currently facing amid the record-breaking spike in Covid cases. The High Court put forth some harsh questions before the Centre raising the issue the country has meaning to ask the central government that 'How is the government so oblivious to the reality on the ground?"
The court was hearing an urgent hearing on a petition by Max Hospital Patparganj that it is running out of oxygen and that the lives of 400 patients, out of which 262 are covid patients, are under threat.
Max hospital, in its petition, says they have been running from pillar to post and have made number of requests both to the Central Government and the Delhi Government.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli conducted the hearing on a holiday. They said the responsibility to ensure oxygen supply is squarely on the Central government’s shoulders and if necessary, the entire supply of oxygen to industries including steel and petroleum can be diverted for medical usage.
During the initial part of the hearing, the court ordered the Centre to take over the supply of oxygen at steel and petroleum industries.
“The steel and petrochemical industries are oxygen guzzlers and diverting oxygen from there can meet hospitals’ requirements,” the bench said.
“If Tatas can divert oxygen they are generating for their steel plants to medical use, why can’t others? This is the height of greed. Is there no sense of humanity left or not,” the court observed.
“Every 10 days, we have doubled the number of (Covid-19) cases and the fact of the matter on the ground is that there is a shortage of oxygen and it is evident to all. It is not that it is artificial or being wrongly projected. It is there. We cannot shut our eyes to it,” said the court.
“As a state, you cannot say that look we can provide this much and no more, so if people die, let them die. That cannot be acceptable and that cannot be an answer of the sovereign state. We will have to enforce the fundamental rights of people and direct beg, borrow and steal and do whatever you have to do but you have to do. We cannot see people dying, because people are dying,” said the court.
Slamming the Centre, the High Court asked the Centre to take responsibility for the crisis the country is facing and providing them the needed amount of oxygen, the court said," There is no sense of humanity left or what. What are we looking at… This is really, really ridiculous. You’re concerned about industries at this point of time when people are dying in thousands. One week, two weeks, your industries can wait. It is an emergency of such a grave nature. Human lives are not that important.. that means.. for the state?” it said.
On the Centre’s decision to exempt some industries from the ban on industrial use of oxygen, the Bench said: “You have your own state-run steel plants and petroleum industries. Why can’t you curtail it? Why can’t you stop it? Why can’t you minimise it to whatever is absolutely critical? We can understand that you cannot shut down petroleum production completely in the country because it is a critical thing by itself, but you can reduce it. We are sure that if you were to divert their oxygen for medical use, you would be able to meet the requirement”.
The Centre submitted that it had increased the supply of oxygen to Delhi from 378 MTs to 480 MTs. “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 that you are supplying 400-odd. We are not blaming you but you have to understand that it is an emergency,” the court said.
During the hearing, the court asked the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta if the Centre could assure it that none of the hospitals in Delhi would face a critical situation tonight. Mehta responded that the Delhi government could give that assurance.