NO REASON FOR L-G TO OBJECT TO PROBE INTO O2 SHORTAGE DEATHS: DELHI GOVT TO HC

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has told the Delhi High Court that there is no reason or lawful justification for the Lieutenant Governor to object to the constitution of a high powered committee (HPC) by the state to probe deaths caused by alleged oxygen shortage during the second wave of Covid-19.

The government said the reasons stated by the LG in his noting dated June 8 for interdicting the constitution of the HPC are “misconceived” and do not withstand the test laid down by the Supreme Court for exercise of power under the proviso to Article 239AA (4). “In these circumstances, the decision of the answering respondent (Delhi government) to constitute a High Powered Committee has to be considered to be final and binding,” it said in an affidavit filed before a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh.

The court was hearing a plea by Riti Singh Verma, who lost her 34-year-old husband during the second wave of the pandemic in May, seeking direction to the Delhi government to operationalise the HPC and refer her case to the committee and also grant her compensation as per its recommendations.

The woman said her husband was admitted to a private hospital here for treatment of Covid-19 on May 10 and he passed away on May 14 due to cardiac arrest. The high court granted two weeks to the LG to file reply to the petition and listed the matter for further hearing on September 21.

In response to the petition, the Delhi government said the HPC was constituted on May 27 but the order of its constitution was kept in abeyance on May 31.

HC GRANTED TWO WEEKS TO THE LG TO FILE REPLY TO THE PETITION AND LISTED MATTER FOR HEARING ON SEPT 21