Supreme Court refuses to stay Karnataka HC order on more oxygen allocation to state
"Karnataka HC order directing Centre to supply 1200 MT oxygen to the state is a very judicious order and calibrated exercise of power," a bench of justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said.
FollowThe Supreme Court on Friday turned down the Central government’s plea to stay the Karnataka High Court order directing it to immediately increase the supply of medical oxygen to the state from 962 metric tonnes (MT) per day to 1,200 MT per day in view of the spurt in the number of active Covid-19 cases.
The Supreme Court said the order passed by the high court is reasonable.
"Karnataka HC order directing Centre to supply 1200 MT oxygen to the state is a very judicious order and calibrated exercise of power," a bench of justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said.
It refused to accept the Centre’s contention that if every High Court start passing orders for allocating oxygen, it will throw the supply network of the country haywire.
On May 5, while hearing a public interest litigation, the High Court had noted that the projected requirement of oxygen in Karnataka was 1,471 MT per day as on April 30, 2021, whereas the Centre had agreed to enhance it from 862 MT to only 962 MT per day. It also recorded a statement of Karnataka’s additional chief secretary that the requirement of oxygen in the state was likely to go up to 1,792 MT by May 5, 2021.
The Centre said such it would create great difficulty if all HCs start passing order for supply of Oxygen to state.
"Let the entire stock of oxygen be handed over to HC which will decided on how to distribute among different states," the government said.
The apex court said it is conscious of the difficulty faced by Centre but we have also to think about what will happen if the requirement of oxygen of a state is not met.
"The High Court cannot remain silent when people are dying in the state," the Supreme court said.
The Centre further sought intervention of the Supreme Court, saying such matters required a comprehensive national approach.
“Issues which transcend the boundaries of the particular state, especially issues wherein one or more states would be competing for the limited resources during the time of the pandemic, or issues which require any special treatment to a particular state at the expense of other states would necessarily have to be examined by the Supreme Court as it essentially requires a comprehensive national approach,” it said.
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