The Centre had filed a special leave petition challenging the order passed by Karnataka High Court on May 5 directing increase in oxygen quota of the state.

In its May 5 order the high court stated that it had no option but to issue a mandatory direction to the Centre to consider the state’s requisition made on April 30 and meanwhile directed the state to submit a fresh representation on requirement for the 7 days. The court has directed to increase the allocation to 1200MT on ad hoc basis until the Centre reconsiders its decision.

The allocation for the State of Karnataka stood at 802 MTs prior to 30 April 2021 and has been increased to 856 MTs from 1 May 2021 and 965 MTs from 5 May 2021. The minimum requirement of the State, as projected by the State Government on 5 May 2021, was 1162 MT and projected the requirement to go up to 1,792 MT by May 5. 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that issue of allocation is of pan-India concern and allocations would become unworkable if directions are issued under Article 226 of the Constitution. He further submitted that the Centre was willing to engage with the State government and convene a meeting for resolving the demand of the State of Karnataka for the supply of oxygen. 

The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah observed that the high court direction is evidently an ad-interim direction, subject to such calibration as would be necessitated after the State of Karnataka and the Union Government have mutually attempted to resolve the issue. The order of the High Court does not preclude a mutual resolution by the two governments, since the proceedings are still pending, the court observed. 

While refusing to interfere with the high court’s order, the Supreme Court held that the same was based on the need to maintain at least a minimum requirement as projected by the State Government until a decision on the representation is taken and the High Court is apprised.  The court disposed off the petition while observing, “without enquiring into the wider issues sought to be raised at this stage (and keeping them open) there is no reason to entertain the Special Leave Petition.” 

The order may be read here:

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The  Lucknow administration has filed a first information report (FIR) against Sun Hospital, which is in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area, and accused it of spreading “false rumours” over shortage of oxygen, reported Indian Express. The hospital administration will now move the Allahabad High Court over the FIR. The 45-bed hospital was designated a Covid facility around a month ago, stated the report, adding that on May 3, it had 38 patients, who the hospital claimed were on oxygen support. By Thursday, it had 28 Covid patients, with 20 on oxygen support, stated the report. 

However, the FIR, filed at 11.30 P.M on Wednesday, came in the wake of the Allahabad High Court, which mentioned the notice put up by Sun Hospital: “… news was also being viral that one Sun Hospital, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow and another private hospital at Meerut had taken their hands off the admitted Covid patients only for the reason that oxygen supply was not made even after demand. We find these news items showing a quite contrary picture to one claimed by the Government that there was sufficient supply of oxygen,” observed the court, adding that the “death of Covid patients just for non-supplying of oxygen to the hospitals is a criminal act and not less than a genocide by those who have been entrusted the task to ensure continuous procurement and supply chain of the liquid medical oxygen.” 

Now, after the FIR, the Sun Hospital’s Akhilesh Pandey told the media that he wanted the Lucknow administration to come and talk to caregivers about what happened on May 3. “I am filing a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the action,” he said. According to IE, Pandey has also claimed that the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Sadar) Praful Tripathi had pressured him, “I have a video with the audio of SDM sahib making me write things in return for helping me. Now, they have issued a notice to me.” Pandey said he was also approaching the court for anticipatory bail and to seek a fair investigation into the issue.

The news report quotes the complaint by the district administration: “Despite orders from Lucknow district administration and government for not spreading rumours of Oxygen shortage, a notice was circulated on social media asking (caregivers) of patients to withdraw patients who were on oxygen support from the hospital… In the probe done by administration, it was found that eight jumbo cylinders and two B-type cylinders and concentrators were available with the hospital.” According to the  administration this was “sufficient oxygen”.

However, Pandey told the media that the hospital needs to maintain back-up of O2, “Despite requests, no one assured me about oxygen supply. The administration kept saying no when asked about oxygen. The Drug Inspector told me how he could give me oxygen cylinders when there was none available anywhere in Lucknow. I issued the notice because I didn’t want anyone to die at my hospital, and to ensure that if someone could go elsewhere, they could have done so.”

Pandey has been named in the FIR lodged against the hospital, the Vibhuti Khand SHO Chandra Shekhar Singh told the media that other names will be added later, “For now, we have lodged a case against Akhilesh Pandey. We have been told Akhilesh is a partner and there is another director.” According to the news report, the FIR has been lodged under Sections of the Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Diseases Act and IPC Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life).

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 “We want the Centre to supply 700 metric tons of Oxygen to Delhi and we mean business. This is just not my view; it is the joint view of the Bench. We will clarify this in the order,” said Justice Chandrachud to the Central government while hearing the issue of shortage, reported LiveLaw.

The Supreme Court’s order will be reportedly uploaded in a few hours but he reiterated that it is the Centre’s responsibility to supply 700 metric tons of oxygen to Delhi. “Solicitor, we want 700 MT to be supplied to Delhi on a daily basis. Please don’t force us to be in a situation where we have to be firm,” Justice Chandrachud reportedly remarked.

Justice MR Shah told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, “We had made it very clear that we wanted 700 MT. We said that yesterday (May 6).”

While considering the Central Government’s petition against the Delhi High Court’s contempt notice to its officials for failing to secure a 700 metric ton supply of oxygen to Delhi as directed, the Bench of Justices Chandrachud and MR Shah had (again) directed the Centre to supply the same quantity and place a comprehensive plan to explain how they will sustain this demand and supply chain. The court had stayed the Delhi High Court’s order initiating contempt but also noted that Delhi was in a critical state and was not receiving adequate supply, as SabrangIndia had previously reported.

LiveLaw reported that SG Tushar Mehta informed the Court on May 6, that by the end of the day on Wednesday (May 5), 730.7 metric ton of oxygen had been received by the NCT of Delhi, as per the Delhi Government’s report. He submitted that in view of this large quantity which has reached Delhi, the National Capital is in ‘excess’ of oxygen now. “I know for a fact that it has not come to be distributed as yet. It is important to point out that after this huge supply, unloading is taking long, which is increasing the turnaround time for the tankers,” he said.

During this hearing on May 6, Tushar Mehta apprised the court that on May 4, Delhi received a supply of 585 metric tons and the Centre received no complaints of shortage. “A survey of 56 major hospitals of Delhi, including Batra, Fortis, Ganga Ram, was carried out on May 4 between 8 and 8:45 PM. It revealed that the current stock available with these hospitals is 280 MT (without including the re-fillers), the average daily consumption is 290 and the storage capacity is 478. All hospitals in the survey are using LMO. This reveals that there are significant stocks available with the hospitals”, he had said, based on a LiveLaw report.

Justice Chandrachud reportedly lauded the efforts of the Centre, but wanted to understand the process of transportation. He said, “It appears you gave 700 to Delhi yesterday (May 5). We appreciate the efforts that your officers have made to comply with our orders overnight. We like the spirit in which it has been achieved in the last 24 hours. But (as per Sumita Dawra, Additional Secretary to the GOI in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade), the next time it reaches 700, it will be on May 10 because of the turnaround time of the containers. The supply will fall to 560 in the next 2 days due to the container issue…now, the storage capacity of the 56 hospitals is 478. After accounting for the refill cylinders, the total storage capacity comes to 665. To what extent is the storage capacity availed of? It must be empty right now?”

The SG explained to the Bench that this is an ongoing process and that the storage capacity is not empty or filled at all times. LiveLaw reported that the SG said that it may be ‘plus or minus’ every two hours.

For this reason, the Bench stressed on buffer stock of oxygen supply as Delhi might receive 500 metric tons in the next few days because of the unexpected turn around time of the containers carrying oxygen. Through its order on April 30, the Supreme Court had suggested that while the Central and State Governments are in the process of managing the supply of oxygen, it is also critical that a buffer emergency stock of oxygen is created so that in the event that the supply chain is disrupted to any one or more hospitals in an area for any reason, the buffer or emergency stocks can be used to avoid loss of human lives, as SabrangIndia had previously reported.

Yesterday, Justice Chandrachud pressed, “There will be a two-day lag when 700 will come down to 560 because of the container issue. Are there any buffer stocks to deal with this situation? How will Delhi manage without full supply? Buffer stocks would have taken care of the situation when panic is created when hospitals say they are left with just 1 hour or 2 hours’ worth of stock.”

LiveLaw quoted Justice Shah adding, “Every hospital starts sending in SOS calls that they have 2 hours or 3 hours of stock left. If there are buffer stocks, there would be no difficulty. In our April 30 order, we have said that buffer stocks should be created by the midnight of May 3.”

(To be updated with order)

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Aggrieved by the order passed by Karnataka High Court directing increase in oxygen quota of the state, the Central government has moved the Supreme Court.

On May 5, the Karnataka High Court directed the Centre to increase oxygen allocation to Karnataka to 1200MT with immediate effect, on an ad hoc basis until Centre reconsiders its decision. The court stated that it had no option but to issue a mandatory direction to the Centre to consider the state’s requisition made on April 30 and meanwhile directed the state to submit a fresh representation on requirement for the 7 days.

The Centre had increased the state’s allocation based on its representation made on April 30, from 802MT to 865 MT, and after the court’s notice on May 4, the allocation was increased to 965MT. The requirement was however, about 1700MT.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the Special Leave Petition filed by Centre before a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud but he was told to mention it before the bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, reported LiveLaw.

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A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah has stayed the Delhi High Court order issuing a show cause notice for contempt to the Central government for its failure to supply oxygen to the National Capital.

According to Bar & Bench, the court observed that hauling up government officers for contempt of court will not solve the oxygen crisis in Delhi. “We stay the operation of the contempt notice issued by Delhi High Court….this stay will not be a restraint on Delhi High Court to monitor the on ground situation on other heads,” the Bench reportedly said.

The Central Government had approached the Supreme Court against the High Court order yesterday through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the matter before Chief Justice NV Ramana on May 5.

Bar & Bench also quoted the Bench saying, “At the outset, it needs to be clarified that why this Court is hearing this plea is because exercising powers under contempt jurisdiction will not solve the problem faced by Delhi. When a country is facing a humanitarian crisis court must aim at problem solving.”

Delhi High Court pulled up the Central government

The Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli had noted on May 4, that the Centre had not complied with the Supreme Court and it’s own directions regarding oxygen supply to Delhi. The Bench had remarked, “Are you living in ivory towers? Where are you living?… What you’re saying is that because the Delhi Government didn’t raise the demand people should be allowed to die now? Is this what it’s come to? You want to quibble while people are losing lives?”

Earlier on May 1, the Delhi High Court had directed the Central Government to ensure that Delhi receives the allocated quantity of 490 metric tons of oxygen today (May 1) itself “by whatever means”. The Bench had noted that although the said quantity has been allocated by the Centre to the Delhi government, it has merely been a “paper allocation” since the state has not received the supply.

The Supreme Court had also directed the Centre to ensure that the deficit in Delhi’s demand for 700 metric tons of oxygen per day is rectified on or before the midnight of May 3, as SabrangIndia had reported earlier. It urged the Centre and State to cooperate on the issue and make sure the supply remains steady. “In the battle of shifting responsibility of supplying/off taking of oxygen, the lives of citizens cannot be put in jeopardy”, recorded the order.

During the hearing yesterday, according to a LiveLaw report, Justice DY Chandrachud took very strong exception to Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma’s response to Delhi High Court yesterday that the Supreme Court had not directed the supply of 700 metric tons per day of oxygen to Delhi.

“Why does your ASG say we have not directed 700 MT? The problem is when your ASG argues this before Delhi High Court…you are getting into cross-fire,” Justice Chandrachud told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. To this, Mehta said, “I am not getting into it. I will stand by my colleague.”

The SG then informed the court that the Centre is in the process of reaching the figure of 700 metric tons. He also told the Bench that yesterday, 585 metric tons was already allocated, reported LiveLaw.

On the same issue of allocation, the SG explained to the Bench that the allocation of medical oxygen quota for each state is on the basis of a ‘formula’ evolved by experts. The demand of each state is dependent on the number of hospital beds and covid cases. On the basis of this, Mr. Mehta argued that Delhi’s demand for 700 metric tons of oxygen was not justified.

The SG said, “50% of ICU beds need 10 litres per minute and 100% needs 20 per minute. I’m not going back from my statement. The figure by Delhi Govt for 700 is not justified. Every State has demanded more, but allocation is based on this formula,” tweeted LiveLaw.

But Justice Chandrachud said that this formula of the Centre is based on assumptions and does not fit in Delhi’s situation. “The formula is based on assumptions. That 100% ICU beds require oxygen and 50% beds require oxygen. This is not the case in every State. What’s happening in Odisha may be very different from the state of the pandemic in Maharashtra or Delhi. You cannot have a general assessment for the entire country, irrespective of the state of the pandemic. The pandemic is peaking at different times in different states. The pandemic in Delhi is very critical. Our order was on 2nd of May. We are on the 5th of May. What you need to do is tell us how much you have allocated over the past few days,” said Justice Chandrachud.

Justice Chandrachud: The formula is a based on assumptions. That 100% ICU beds require oxygen and 50% beds require oxygen. This is not the state in every State. What’s happening in Odisha may be very different from the state of the pandemic in Maharashtra or Delhi.

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 5, 2021

In its order, the Supreme Court recorded, “..it would be necessary for the Central Government to look at the formula afresh and to determine as to whether it needs to be altered having regard to the specific requirements of areas such as NCT of Delhi which have been seriously affected by the second surge of the pandemic. Apart from the requirement of oxygen in a formal institutional framework, oxygen is also being made available to individuals who are unable to get beds in hospitals. Hence, it would not be adequate to make an assessment of the quantity of oxygen required based exclusively on the formula which has been used thus far by the Central Government.”

The SG informed that on May 3 the allocation was 433 MT and May 4 it was 585 MT. But the Bench said that Delhi requires more oxygen. LiveLaw quoted Tushar Mehta saying, “According to me, if they have 500, they will be able to manage. We don’t have unlimited oxygen; we will have to rationalize.”

The Bench refuted this argument and said, “We are answerable to the citizens. As Judges we don’t have contact with as many people as you are. But, officers in my office tell, lawyers are crying, asking for help. 550 is not sufficient. The ground situation shows that.” It then directed the Centre to comply with the 700 MT supply order.

Adopt the Bombay model, SC to Centre

According to some news sources, the apex court also suggested that the Centre should take note from the Bombay Municipal Corporation as the civic body had done a good job in managing oxygen supplies.

LiveLaw quoted the Bench saying, “There is wealth of information coming in every day. Bombay Municipal Corporation is doing some great work, with no disrespect to Delhi. What they are doing, how they are managing. We can learn from them. I also understand that Maharashtra also produces oxygen which Delhi cannot do.”

The Central government has been directed to place a comprehensive plan for allocation, supply and distribution of oxygen to meet the requirements of GNCTD. The matter will be heard today on May 6.

The order may be read here: 

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The Karnataka High Court has directed the Centre to increase oxygen allocation to Karnataka to 1200MT with immediate effect. On May 4, the bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar had given notice to the Centre that it will be passing such orders.

The court, with due regard to grave situation faced by the state, where already two incidents had occurred, reportedly, due to shortage of oxygen. The court stated that it had no option but to issue a mandatory direction to consider the consider the state’s requisition made on April 30 and meanwhile directed the state to submit a fresh representation on requirement for the 7 days. The court has directed to increase the allocation to 1200MT on ad hoc basis until the Centre reconsiders its decision.

The court stated that depending upon the Centre’s decision and the state’s representation, the court will pass orders accordingly in the next week. LiveLaw reported that the court also stressed upon the urgency of the matter, “The reason being there are a number of reported incidents in the state of death of covid-19 affected patients due to lack of availability of Oxygen. For upholding rights under Article 21 of Constitution this is the minimum requirement to be complied with by the state.”

The Centre had increased the state’s allocation basis its representation made on April 30, from 802MT to 865 MT and after the court’s notice on May 4, the allocation was increased to 965MT.

The court also questioned the Centre why no buffer stock was created even after Supreme Court’s directions. “Scenario that emerges is such that notwithstanding the facts and figures, not only no buffer stock is created for the state of Karnataka, but minimum requirement is also not met with. We must note here that Bengaluru city has had the highest number of cases in the country for the last several days,” LiveLaw reported the bench saying.

Remdesevir allocation

The Centre informed the court that decision on reconsideration of Remdesivir allocation to Karnataka will be taken within two days. The court had observed on May 4 that the state had mentioned that requirement was of 35,000 vials per day, but Centre had made allocation of about 15,800 vials per day.

Further, the court directed the state government to put in place helpline number for people in Bengaluru urban district considering the rising number of cases.

Inquiry in deaths due to oxygen shortage

The court has directed the Chief Secretary to seize the records of the hospital in Chamarajnagar where 24 covid patients died between May 3 and May 4. The court has also directed seizure of records pertaining to oxygen supply with Deputy Commissioner Chamarajnagar as well as Mysuru.

When the Advocate General informed the court that the cabinet had ordered an inquiry headed by a Judge, the court responded that the choice of judge should be left up to the court. “You cannot pre-judge a matter like this,” the bench reportedly said.

The Court was inclined towards having the incident inquired into by Committee appointed by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority headed by a retired judge.
 

The case will next be heard on May 6.

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Senior Opposition leaders have issued a joint statement, asking the Centre to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply to hospitals across the country. The 13 Opposition leaders have also asked that the Centre launch a mass free vaccination programme against Covid-19.  The statement comes in the wake of many SOS calls from horptials, and the death of around 12 patients on Saturday at Delhi’s Batra Hospital. The SOS calls flaggine shortage of Oxygen supply and stock from various hospitals in Delhi, were visible on social media on Sunday as well.

The Opposition leaders who have signed the the statement include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M K Stalin, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and  Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav.

They wrote, “We call upon the Central government to focus all attention in ensuring the uninterrupted flow of Oxygen supplies to all hospitals and health centres across the country. We call upon the Central government to immediately launch a free mass vaccination programme across the country. The budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for the vaccination programme must be utilised for this.”

It is a grave situation. The Modi government must act. Our joint call for immediate action ?? pic.twitter.com/OY7YRbGDAQ

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) May 2, 2021

Delhi’s hospitals have had to approach the High Court to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply. However, the government had, however, denied that there was any shortage and blamed logistics issues in transporting oxygen to places. Indian Express reported on Sunday that a day after 12 Covid patients, including a senior doctor, died after oxygen ran out at Batra Hospital the facility said it was still struggling for supplies and thus stopped new admissions. Other Delhi hospitals who do not have stable oxygen supplies include two children’s hospitals, Jaipur Golden Hospital, where  20 Covid patients died last week, Vimhans and Triton Hospital in South East Delhi, Akash Hospital in Dwarka, and Sitaram Bhartia Hospital and Rainbow Madhukar Hospital in South Delhi. According to IE, some of these hospitals received an emergency supply from the Delhi government, while others got their stocks at the last minute. A Delhi government official told the media that even temporary Covid facilities with 1,000 beds in the city have not been able to start operating due to the oxygen shortage. 

Hope the Prime Minister will consider this joint statement from Opposition leaders seriously, and in the right spirit. Meeting them immediately would be a good first step to rebuild trust and confidence during this time of national crisis.@narendramodi pic.twitter.com/9iklsmMjH5

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 2, 2021

Supreme Court orders Centre to ensure oxygen supply to Delhi 

On Sunday, the Supreme Court passed an order asking the Centre to ensure that the shortage of the supply of oxygen to Delhi is rectified on or before May 3 midnight.  The SC bench ordered, “The Central Government shall, in collaboration with the states, prepare a buffer stock of oxygen for emergency purposes and decentralise the location of the emergency stocks. The emergency stocks shall be created within the next four days and are to be replenished on a day to day basis, in addition to the existing allocation of oxygen supply to the States.” According to a report in The Mint, the directions were passed in a suo motu case for ensuring essential supplies and services during the Covid-19 pandemic. The SC added that emergency stocks shall be created within the next four days and are to be replenished on a day-to-day basis, in addition to the existing allocation of oxygen supply to the states. The three-member apex court bench, comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Ravindra Bhat also asked senior advocates Jaideep Gupta and Meenakshi Arora, appointed as amicus curiae, to collate and compile these suggestions submitted by various parties, added the news report. The next hearing is listed on May 10.

According to the news report, the Supreme Court has directed the Centre to formulate within two weeks a national policy on admissions to hospitals in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 and said no patient shall be denied hospitalisation or essential drugs in any state for lack of local residential proof.

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Eight Covid patients including the gastroenterology department’s head died in Batra Hospital due to oxygen shortage today on May 1.

The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. SCL Gupta, told the media that six of the eight were admitted to the hospital’s ICU ward and two to the main ward. The doctor who died has been identified as Dr. RK Himthani, according to NDTV.

8 dead at Batra hospital after oxygen supply reaches late. 6 of them were on ICU on high flow Oxygen. Among those who died is a doctor of the hospital from the gastro Dept. Dr. SCL Gupta, Medical Director, Batra speaking about the incident ??@TOIDelhi pic.twitter.com/GqFJpaY0bl

— Sakshi Chand (@sakshichand8TOI) May 1, 2021

Business Standard quoted Dr. Sudhanshu Bankata, CEO, Batra Hospital saying, “At 7 A.M, we raised an alarm that we will run out of oxygen by 12 P.M. Delhi government didn’t have any oxygen to supply to us. We were without oxygen till 1:35 P.M. As a result, we lost 8 patients.”

This is the second time in a week that Batra Hospital has run out of oxygen supply. On April 24, the hospital reportedly received a last-minute re-supply that arrived minutes after its oxygen reserves ran out. The hospital has also approached the High Court over shortage issues.

In a special hearing today before the Delhi High Court Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli, it took cognisance of the tragic incident and directed the Central Government to ensure that Delhi receives the allocated quantity of 490 metric tons of oxygen today itself “by whatever means”, reported LiveLaw.

Justice Sanghi slammed the Centre for this delay and remarked, “Now the water has gone over our head. Enough is enough. We are not asking for more than 490 MT. You have allocated it. Now it falls upon you to fulfil it.”

The Bench noted that although the said quantity has been allocated by the Centre to the Delhi government, it has merely been a “paper allocation” since the state has not received the supply.

The Bench warned the Centre that if this direction is not implemented, the concerned authority will be asked to present himself for hearing on Monday (May 3), and they might consider contempt action against the Central Government.

Court: If not implemented we will have the head of DPIIT shall remain present, in case of non compliance we may consider initiating contempt proceedings.

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 1, 2021

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma also tried to persuade the Bench against passing any order in the matter as the Supreme Court is hearing a similar issue on oxygen shortage. But, according to LiveLaw, the visibly upset Bench said, “Don’t tell us that. Eight people have died. We can’t shut our eyes to people dying in Delhi.”

The High Court has taken up several pleas related to oxygen shortage in the National Capital filed by hospitals like Jaipur Golden, Maharaja Agrasen and Batra. Last week on April 24, Jaipur Golden lost 25 patients as they ran out of oxygen supply.

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The Delhi High Court has reprimanded the Delhi government for not being able to manage the Covid crisis in the capital effectively and said that it should “pull up its socks”. The Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli which has been relentlessly following through on requests by hospitals for oxygen supply, is also monitoring the supply of essential drugs and is ensuring that no undue pressure is laid on the health care workers who are already working under stress.

During the hearing, Vijay Dev, Chief Secretary, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) informed the court that the government intends to issue an order to ensure that existing contractual arrangements are honoured to the extent possible by oxygen suppliers. The suppliers have also been asked to disclose about the supply of liquid Oxygen by them for the next 72 hours, so that the aspect of certainty can be taken care of.

The court observed that during the hearing it became clear that the GNCTD needs to “pull up its socks” to address the aspect of distribution of oxygen among hospitals. The court stated that “even after supply of tons and tons of liquid Oxygen to these re-fillers and convertors, there is no account being kept as to how they are further supplying Oxygen cylinders to hospitals, nursing homes and individuals.” The court opined that there is an artificial shortage being created and black marketing is taking place as there is no account being kept.

The court clearly stated that oxygen re-fillers are complying with the government’s order as they obviously do not wish to maintain transparency. The court stated that strict action will be taken against them if they fail to provide requisite data to the Delhi government, despite orders.

The court then directed the GNCTD to inform about stocks of liquid oxygen with re-fillers on April 28 hearing at 10 A.M. It also directed the government to call for records from all the pharmacies in the hospitals with regard to the supplies of Remdesivir, and other essential drugs and the sales made. The court also took up a suggestion made by Senior Advocate Trivedi that the supply of these drugs should be updated on an online portal.

The court also took notice of an order issued by the GNCTD directing hospitals to attend to patients immediately and taken to a triage area within 10 minutes with adequate provision for oxygen and medication required. The court observed that such orders will only create anxiety for health care workers and only specific complaints should be addressed and action can be taken against such hospitals.

The court held that such circulars are meaningless and will only lead to legal complications for hospitals in the future. “The responsibility of the GNCTD towards the people does not get discharged with issuance of such like circulars alone,” the court said.

It has also called for details on patients who have died due to shortage of oxygen vide an affidavit to be filed within four days.

The complete order may be read here:

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The post Delhi HC asks govt to “pull up its socks”, points out black marketing and hoarding of oxygen appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Uttar Pradesh has recorded over 2,97,616 Covid-19 cases, and in the past 24 hours there has been an increase of 9,472, according to data shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). According to the Government’s policy think tank NITI Aayog’s prediction, Uttar Pradesh may be the next Covid-19 hotspot after Delhi, which is reeling under a massive surge in cases.

According to news reports the NITI Aayog has projected that Uttar Pradesh is likely to add 1,19,604 coronavirus infection cases by April 30, Maharashtra is predicted to add 99,665 cases and the surge in Delhi will continue with 67,134 cases.

UP facing oxygen bed shortage?

These predictions of the Covid-19 of the pandemic that is expected to peak around mid-May, with a projected daily infection count of five lakhs were made by NITI Aayog member (health) VK Paul during a presentation at the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by chief ministers of high caseload states. According to the news reports VK Paul said, “Heavily populated states are at particular risk and health infrastructure in these states is not adequate enough to cope with the present scenario.” 

Uttar Pradesh is one of the most densely populated states in the country, and it seems that dark days may lie ahead as seen in Delhi that shares a large porous border with it. There is an acute shortage of hospital beds, ICU beds, oxygen for Covid-19 patients and many are dying waiting for help to reach. Many Delhi Hospitals have been flagging that oxygen supplies are running low, announcements are made over social media, and pasted outside hospitals.  

According to reports, the NITI Aayog has projected a daily shortage in Uttar Pradesh of isolation beds with oxygen at around 16,752. There may be a 3,061 shortfall of ICU beds and at least 1,538 ventilators will be needed in the state.

What is Chief Minister Adityanath’s plan of action? 

Instead of sharing what the plan of action is to combat the shortage of Oxygen in Uttar Pradesh, Chief minister Adityanath has reportedly sent out a clear message to the state’s hospitals to stop flagging any oxygen crisis or face action. According to news reports at an online meeting on Sunday, Adityanath asked senior administrative and police officers, including divisional commissioners and inspectors-general, to “crack down on hospitals that discharge patients citing an oxygen shortage or complain to the media about the crisis”. The Telegraph report quoted senior health department officials who remain anonymous saying that the “chief minister said that action must be initiated against hospitals that put up notices saying they had no oxygen and the patients should be shifted elsewhere. He said there should be a probe to establish whether they deliberately tried to create panic.” 

According to Adityanath “there is no scarcity of oxygen in Uttar Pradesh”. He reportedly told the officials that the government was “ensuring the availability of the gas at every public and private hospital, but its misuse has to be stopped.” He reportedly “asked the officials to ensure that every government or private hospital with 100 or more beds had an oxygen plant. He told them to prepare proposals and send them to the chief secretary.”

However, there have been multiple posts on social media showing that many hospitals in Lucknow and other parts of the state had put up notices at their gates over the weekend declaring an oxygen shortage and advising families of Covid patients to shift them elsewhere.

In the last 3 days, fresh COVID19 positive cases have gone down in the state. There in no shortage of beds, oxygen and life saving drugs in the State: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/JkRQy5KgHf

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 26, 2021

News reports quoted anonymous sources at hospitals in the state saying the CM “has no problem that graveyards and cremation grounds are running out of space. All he wants is that the hospitals fulfil his agenda of hiding the truth.” It was reported that on Saturday, 10 hospitals in Agra were forced to discharge about 1,000 Covid patients due to a lack of oxygen, this was told to the media by Dr O.P. Yadav, district president of the Indian Medical Association.

आगरा के अस्पतालों में ऑक्सीजन की कमी

पारस हॉस्पिटल, गोयल सिटी हॉस्पिटल, पुष्पांजलि, एपेक्स हॉस्पिटल सहित आगरा के दर्जन भर से ज्यादा हॉस्पिटलों में ऑक्सीजन की जबरदस्त किल्लत

अस्पतालों ने ऑक्सीजन की कमी लेकर नोटिस लगाया #UttarPradesh #Agra #OxygenCrisis pic.twitter.com/VsLQLrU5bs

— News24 (@news24tvchannel) April 27, 2021

According to an India Today report, “high-burden states” such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Chattisgarh have been told to “categorise areas based on high, moderate, and low surges, based on their geographical and density of population distribution.” It has been reported that the Centre also recommended that districts with a high surge of Covid-19 cases “could implement a lockdown and ramp up the healthcare infrastructure at breakneck speed.”

Adityanath meanwhile has hailed the Prime Minister’s allocation of funds for the installation of 551 dedicated Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) medical oxygen generation plants at public health facilities across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “These plants will serve as a major boost to oxygen availability at the district level. These dedicated plants will be established at identified government hospitals in district headquarters in various States/UTs.” Adiyanath has hailed it as a “milestone for the supply of uninterrupted oxygen throughout the country,” adding that the project has been approved in 47 districts of the state. However it is not yet known when the plants will actually be ready and operational.

आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री जी द्वारा ‘PM-CARES’ के माध्यम से देश भर में 551 PSA ऑक्सीजन जनरेशन प्लांट लगाने के निर्णय के अंतर्गत उ.प्र. के 47 जिलों में इनकी स्वीकृति दी गई है।

पूरे देश में निर्बाध ऑक्सीजन की आपूर्ति हेतु यह निर्णय मील का पत्थर साबित होगा।

हार्दिक आभार प्रधानमंत्री जी

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) April 25, 2021

Related:

Madhya Pradesh falsely reporting Covid deaths?  

Acute shortage of oxygen attributable to State inaction, Amicus Curiae moves 

Covid-19 surge continues in Delhi as govt scampers to add beds, oxygen, vaccines

Twitter removes posts critical of gov’t handling of Covid-19 emergency

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