On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court took a tough stand on the serious situation due to oxygen in hospitals. The High Court even asked the Central Government to beg, borrow or steal, but ensure supply of oxygen to hospitals.
The High Court ordered the Central Government to stop supplying oxygen gas to industrial units with immediate effect. The court said why the central government is not accepting the truth and seriousness of the situation.
The High Court has asked all industries to supply the oxygen produced for their use to the Central Government in times of crisis and the government should supply it to all the hospitals in the state as per their requirement. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli has asked the central government to consider ways and means of transporting oxygen from the industries to hospitals. It has been asked to use dedicated corridors or special aircraft for its transportation when needed.
The bench has asked the government to ensure supply of oxygen to hospitals. The bench commented on the application filed by Max Hospital management while holding an emergency hearing late in the evening. Hospital management said that there are hundreds of corona patients in their hospitals and there is a huge oxygen crisis. Said that if there is no supply of oxygen in time, it will be difficult to save the lives of hundreds of patients.
The
court running the steel plant, not the oxygen in hospitals, has said that ‘We are shocked and disappointed that the hospitals are facing shortage of oxygen and the steel plant is running smoothly. The bench asked the central government in question that thousands of people are dying due to lack of oxygen and your priority is to continue operating the steel plant? The High Court has said that we cannot leave patients to die due to lack of oxygen. The bench has said that ‘we are not averse to saying that the government is unaware of the real truth.
The bench told the central government that we had instructed you to immediately stop supply of gas to industries and give them to hospitals, what have you done. The bench said that the government has to understand that this is a serious type of emergency and you cannot leave people to die in hospitals due to lack of oxygen. The High Court remarked that to save the lives of patients, it is your (central government’s) responsibility to ensure the supply of oxygen in hospitals and appropriate steps have to be taken for this. The bench told the government that if necessary, the supply of oxygen to medical and other industries, including steel and petroleum, should be completely stopped and given to hospitals.
The court has said that the steel and petrochemical industry is the largest consumer of oxygen and the government should take oxygen from hospitals to save the needs and lives of the people.
Why can’t the Tatas give it to others? The
High Court has said that if the Tatas can provide oxygen for their steel plant to meet medical needs and save lives, why can’t other industries do the same. The court made a scathing comment for the industries and said that this is the culmination of greed.
What did the oxygen do for the whole country, the
High Court told the central government that our concern is not only about the supply of oxygen in Delhi. The bench said that our concern is about the whole country. The court has asked the central government to explain what steps you have taken to ensure the supply of oxygen throughout the country.
Max made serious allegations
Max Hospital management in the High Court said that the tanker of oxygen coming to his hospital was sent to AIIMS. The petition said that this put the lives of hundreds of their Corona-infected patients at risk. The bench has directed the government to restore oxygen supply in all the hospitals of Max Hospital.
The only gas the medical-related industries got was the
High Court asked the government to completely stop the supply of oxygen to the industries. It is said that oxygen should be given only to those industries which are engaged in the manufacture of medical use medicine or equipment.
