Oxygen Crisis | Delhi
Delhi High Court pulls up Arvind Kejriwal govt over mismanagement, alleged black marketing of refill oxygen cylinders
Delhi/IBNS: After reprimanding the Central and the state governments over oxygen supply and beds in hospitals amid explosion in coronavirus cases in Delhi, the High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Arvind Kejriwal government on mismanagement and alleged black marketing of refill oxygen cylinders.
A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli hit out at the Delhi government, saying that the cylinder business is in a complete mess and the Court's confidence is shaken, reported Bar and Bench.
"This cylinder business is a complete mess and you have to put your house in order. People have to buy it in black for lakhs," the Court said, report added.
The court's remarks came while hearing a case in which an oxygen cylinder-refiller, Seth Air, failed to make deliveries to Maharaja Agrasen Hospital and Venkaterswara Hospital in spite of allocation orders, said the report.
Apprehending the blackmarketting by the refiller, the court said, "If you (Delhi government) can't manage, tell us. We will ask the Central govt to take over (the re-filing unit)."
Despite substantial quantities of oxygen being supplied to gas refillers, no mechanism has been set up by the Delhi government to monitor the gas supply to hospitals, nursing homes and individuals, the Court added.
It noticed that Seth Air and another re-filler Vinayak Gases were not included in government order for supply of oxygen in cylinders.
"Seth appears to be a rather big supplier. He holds 20MT and he's not part of your order? There appears to be something fishy..There's definitely something wrong .. You completely shut your eyes to him as if he's non-existence," the bench said, the report quoted.
Finally, the Court directed the Delhi government to take control of the re-filling unit owned by Seth Air and told the owner to not interfere.
The court also reprimanded the owners of Seth Air, saying that its owner gave "completely false and unbelievable" reason for not supplying oxygen to
Strict action will be taken against the re-fillers by the Delhi government and the court, who fail to furnish data on further sale.
The court issued contempt notices to re-fillers who failed to appear before the court in the case.
It also ordered the Delhi government to file an affidavit detailing the oxygen stocks held by the re-fillers.
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