SC orders Centre to supply 700 MT to Delhi on daily basis

The Supreme Court has directed the Central government to supply 700 MT to Delhi on a daily basis. "Every single day, 700 MT oxygen must be given to Delhi hospitals. We need business and until that order is modified, please comply with our directions," Justice Chandrachud said in an order on Friday.

Rahul Mehra, lawyer for the Delhi government, told the Supreme Court that as of Friday 9 am, 89 MT of oxygen has been received by the Delhi government and 16 MT oxygen is in transit.

The order comes in the backdrop of Thursday's hearing in the apex court on the vaccine crisis in the national capital. The Centre on Thursday had told the Supreme Court that it has complied with its order and instead of 700 MT oxygen, it ensured a supply of 730 MT to Delhi for treating COVID-19 patients.

Mehra, claiming not to be adversarial, had said the Centre did not allocate the requisite amount of oxygen to Delhi even after the top court's direction, and that even on Thursday, the supply is not 700MT as per their estimates.

He said the Centre has tried to put the Delhi government in the dock in every affidavit they have filed before the courts, and he also claimed that other states such as Madhya Pradesh and Punjab were given more oxygen than their demands.