Industries can wait for oxygen, not Covid patients, says Delhi High Court

New Delhi, April 20

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said sufficient oxygen is not being supplied to Covid patients in the national capital and asked the Centre if it can be diverted from industries which can wait for now.

“Industries can wait. Patients cannot. Human lives are at stake,” a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said to the central government.

The bench said it had heard that doctors at Ganga Ram Hospital were being forced to reduce oxygen being given to Covid patients admitted there as there was scarcity of oxygen.

“Which are these industries whose supplies of oxygen cannot be curtailed?” the court asked central government standing counsel Monika Arora and asked her to take instructions on what all can be done to augment the oxygen supply to Covid patients.

With the direction, the court said it would hear the matter post lunch.

The direction came during hearing of a disposed of petition, related to Covid tests, that the high court revived on April 19 by noting that the virus has raised its “ugly head” once again and the pandemic is raging with much greater intensity and “it is evident that the health-care infrastructure is at the stage of imminent collapse”. PTI