The Supreme Court on Wednesday disapproved of and stayed Delhi high court’s contempt proceedings against the Centre and its senior bureaucrats over supply of medical oxygen to Delhi and said distribution of available oxygen needed a pan-India approach for equitable apportioning given spiralling Covid-19 cases in the country.
When solicitor general Tushar Mehta informed the court that per capita allocation of oxygen to Delhi, that is allocation against the number of active cases, was higher compared to similarly placed states, the bench said it would review the requirement of 700 MT oxygen on Monday but asked the Centre to ensure supply till then.
The SC said while Delhi HC would continue to monitor the ground situation on the management of Covid in Delhi on all aspects, from now on, the supply of oxygen to Delhi by the Centre would be outside its purview. The bench asked the Centre to inform by Thursday how it is going to maintain a steady flow of oxygen to all states. “Supply to one state (like Delhi) should not be at the cost of another state,” the bench said, adding an important caveat.
News Source : The Hindu
