Ghaziabad DM asked to file affidavit on alleged black marketing of oxygen

PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court has directed the Ghaziabad district magistrate (DM) to file his personal affidavit in a public interest litigation (PIL) on the alleged black marketing of oxygen in UP’s Ghaziabad district resulting in the deaths of several Covid-19 patients during the second wave of the pandemic.

The court also asked the DM to file the inquiry report in the probe instituted by him on a complaint filed by the petitioner Nand Kishore, the sitting BJP MLA from Loni constituency of Ghaziabad, alleging involvement of ADM (City) of Ghaziabad, and some other persons in the black marketing of oxygen.

The bench comprising justice Sunita Agarwal and justice Sadhna Rani (Thakur) passed the order on the PIL filed by Nand Kishore. The order was passed on May 21 and came into the public domain on May 24.

The petitioner requested a CBI probe against the ADM (City) of Ghaziabad, and some other persons for their alleged involvement in black-marketing and illegal sale of oxygen in Delhi, Haryana, etc, “resulting in the deaths of scores of Covid patients in Ghaziabad and nearby areas”.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate SFA Naqvi argued, “ADM (city) is in charge of oxygen distribution in Ghaziabad and under his nose black marketing of oxygen was taking place.” “Ghaziabad has several oxygen plants and can easily sustain and fulfil the entire oxygen demand in the district. Regardless, the city has been facing a shortage of medical oxygen,” said Naqvi.

The petitioner has filed some audio and video clips along with the petition. The state government counsel submitted that shortage of oxygen was not reported in the district of Ghaziabad during the period of the complaint, that was in the last week of April 2021, and the allegations in this regard in the petition are baseless.

“Further, the petitioner on May 1 filed a complaint to the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ghaziabad, after which a three-member inquiry committee was set up by the DM Ghaziabad, which is conducting an inquiry,” submitted the state government counsel.

The court directed the Ghaziabad DM to file his personal affidavit, bring on record the inquiry report and fixed June 7 as the next date of hearing in the case