Oxygen crisis: Delhi High Court says will hang anyone blocking oxygen supply

Delhi HC also asked the Centre about preparedness to deal with the second COVID wave peak which is expected in May.

As the hospitals in the National Capital continue to struggle to get adequate oxygen supply, the Delhi High Court today said that if any official at the central, state or local administration was obstructing the supply of oxygen, then it would hang that person. The court said that it won’t spare anyone.

The Delhi High Court’s observation came during the hearing of a plea filed by Maharaja Agrasen Hospital over shortage of oxygen for seriously ill COVID patients. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli told the Delhi government to give it one instance of who was obstructing the oxygen supply and said that the court will hang that man.

The court asked the Delhi government to inform the Centre about such officials so that it could take action against them.

The Delhi government submitted in the court that it is getting 350-380MT of medical oxygen out of sanctioned 480 MT. The high court then asked the Centre when the 480 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen per day allocated for Delhi would see the light of the day. “You had assured us hat 480 MT per day will reach Delhi. Tell us when will it come? The 480 MT per day is still to see the light of the day,” the court told the Centre.

The court also noted that citizens can’t be allowed to die like this due to the lack of oxygen. The court told the Centre and Delhi government to work towards reducing COVID-19 mortality.

Delhi HC also asked the Centre about preparedness to deal with the second COVID wave peak which is expected in May.

The HC pulled up the Delhi government for not submitting proper suggestions to Centre regarding oxygen supply from nearby states. Responding to the contention of Delhi government that it is not getting allocated amount of oxygen, the Centre informed the court that there is a shortage of tankers. “State governments are working equally hard to procure. My humble request is that Delhi and Centre have to work together. Delhi government also needs to make maximum efforts. Help us to help you.”

The Centre informed the court that the Railways is waiting for tanker which is yet to sent by the Delhi government.