HC asks Delhi govt to reply on Centre’s plea

New Delhi, May 2: The Delhi High Court on Sunday asked the Delhi government to file a reply to a Centre’s plea seeking recall of a court order to supply the entire oxygen allocated to the national capital by “whatever means” to treat Covid-19 patients or face contempt.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli, which held two-anda half hour long special hearing on a holiday, issued a notice to the Delhi government on the Centre’s application and asked it to file its response by Wednesday.

While hearing the arguments of counsel for the Centre and the Delhi government, the bench observed, “This is not about allegations or counter-allegations. We are not on that. We are dealing with much larger issue and situation. We are concerned with lives of 100s of people.”

The bench added that recently the Centre has issued a notification saying GNCTD is the LG and that Delhi stands on a different footing as compared to other states.

“Look at the constitutional scheme. Delhi is on a different footing. Even constitutionally they are on different footing. Liquid medical oxygen (LMO) requires special cryogenic tankers and

Delhi is not an industrial state so from where will they requisition tankers.so this stands on a different footing,” it said.

The bench was hearing an application by the central government seeking recall of its May 1 order directing supply of the entire 490 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen allocated to Delhi and warning of contempt action for failure to do so.

On May 1, anguished by the deaths of eight Covid19 patients, including a doctor, at the Batra Hospital here due to a shortage of oxygen, the court had directed the Centre to ensure that the national capital receives its allocated share of 490 MT of the life-saving gas during the day and said “enough is enough”, “much water has gone above the head”.

The bench had said the Centre has to ensure that Delhi receives its allocated amount of oxygen “by whatever means” and warned that failure to do so could lead to contempt action.

Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for the Delhi government, opposed the contentions in the application, saying the allocated amount of oxygen was never made available to the national capital. —