SC to Centre: Ensure 700MT O2 for Delhi, or face action

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asserted that the Centre has to ensure supply of 700MT of oxygen to Delhi on a daily basis until further directions from the court, and made it clear it will not be shy of taking coercive action in case of non-compliance of its order.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said its order to allocate 700MT oxygen was not for one day and supply of that level had to be maintained on a daily basis.

“We want 700MT to be supplied to Delhi on a daily basis. It is not that our order was for supply of 700 MT only for a day but it is for everyday,” the bench said when the Delhi government’s counsel, senior advocate Rahul Mehra, told the bench that Delhi received 537MT oxygen till midnight and another 89MT till 9am on Friday. Taking note of his submission, the bench told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, “Please do not drive us to a situation when we have to take coercive action. We want 700MT not only for a day but everyday. We mean business and you have to supply 700MT.”

While staying contempt proceedings initiated by the Delhi High Court against the Centre and its senior bureaucrats over supply of medical oxygen to Delhi, the apex court on Wednesday directed the Centre to ensure supply of 700MT of oxygen to the city.

Agreeing with the Centre’s submission that the issue required a pan-India approach and no state should be supplied oxygen from the share allocated to others, the bench had said, “However, the ground situation in Delhi, where people are running from hospital to hospital to find an oxygen bed, has to be addressed.

“And we have already passed an order asking the Centre to maintain supply of 700MT of oxygen till May 10.”