Delhi Government To Look Into Supply Of Oxygen To Patients In Home Care; Devise A Portal To Facilitate Importation Of Medical Equipments : Delhi High Court

Delhi High Court hearing on COVID crisis in the NCT of Delhi continued post lunch, focussing primarily on two issues; (1) Supply of oxygen to patients in home care (2) Creating a portal to facilitate importation of medical equipments like oxygen concentrators etc.

A Division Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli, while hearing the matter today, issued the following directions;

1. All suppliers of liquid oxygen to be present with the data of oxygen already supplied.
2. Delhi Government to create a portal for facilitating importation of medical equipments from abroad; “During the course of hearing it has been pointed by Mr. Sacchin Puri and Mr. Aditya N Prasad that there are several individuals abroad who are keen to help citizens in India by giving medical equipments. They submit that there is no such mechanism to accept such import. Let the GNCTD create a portal with respect to the same. Ld. ASG has brought to our notice that custom notifications dated April 27 and April 28 have been issued to exempt custom duties;
   Mr Sharma further submits that a help desk has been created for easy clearance of all such medicines. Let said notices and directions issued by CBICTD be placed on record. ”
3. Application developed by NIC to have necessary modifications; “With respect to the application related to essential drugs, Professor Sanjay Dhir has explained that the app developed by NIC does not have last mile disclosures with respect to whom the same is to be administered. He says that NIC has agreed to carry out the necessary modifications. We expect that the portal shall be operational by day after tomorrow.”

Courtroom Exchange on requirements of Home Care patients;

Senior Advocate Rajashekhar Rao ( Amicus): The point of home care front needs to be worked out. If we don't work out on the home care front, then we will burden the hospitals.

Justice Sanghi: Mr Mehra, have you taken instructions on the aspect of home care?

Senior Adv. Mehra: We have worked out 2/3 things. Earlier these individuals were going to any re-fillers for getting oxygen; Places suggestions after yesterday’s order;

1. We can have it within the existing refilling system by making two separate queues; One for the hospitals and other for the individuals.

2. We can also start the supply of oxygen to them through the office of DM.

Advocate Malvika Trivedi: There is already a system. There are retail shops and these retail shops have to take oxygen from these re fillers. The mechanism needs to be worked out.

Senior Adv. Mehra: We have already allocated the entire 490MT to the hospitals. If we could somehow get 15 or 20 MT of oxygen, then we can provide oxygen to the individuals.

Senior Adv. Mehra: Dr Shroff's clinic does have a supply of oxygen because all the re fillers are now saying that they cannot supply oxygen to them because they have been tied to the hospitals. We were only catering to the hospitals.

Senior Advocate Mehra: If probably 15/20MT could come from somewhere, we will start allocating oxygen to the individuals & these clinics.

Justice Sanghi: Now that 2 more PSA plants would be operational, that capacity will be added, maybe you can use it from there.

Advocate Trivedi: There has to be some sort of re allocation where individual needs are also taken care of. This is because, if the number of beds increase, the need for oxygen would also increase.

Justice Sanghi: Let Mr. Mehta come back tomorrow on this aspect.

Justice Sanghi: What are your instructions with regards to TEJAS?

Senior Adv. Mehra: We still have to receive instructions in this regards.

Sanghi J: Tell us. Are these oxygen re filler plants working for 24 hours?

Learned Amicus: There are gaps since it depends upon the capacity of tankers that they have.

Advocate Abhinav Tyagi appeared for Seth Air to submit that Seth Air is facing legal threats since it has contractual obligations with the hospitals in Haryana; “The GNCTD has directed to allocate it to 21 hospitals.”

Justice Sanghi: These are orders from the Court.

Advocate Tyagi: I just wanted to apprise the Bench with regards to the situation.

Justice Sanghi: You kindly look into your allocation order. If you can feel, you can cut the oxygen from some hospitals.

Senior Adv. Mehra informed that the oxygen suppliers are not fulfilling their commitments and are also not submitting the required information as asked by the GNCTD.

Advocate Bhakti Singh and Advocate Prahbhashay Kaur informed the Bench that the oxygen suppliers such as INOX are not supplying the oxygen that they have been directed to allocate.

Justice Sanghi to Adv. Mehra: Fire Fighting you’ve been doing, you will have to continue to do that. So far as individuals are concerned, you will have to do something on this aspect too.

On the aspect of waiver of custom duty for importation of Medical Equipments;

Learned ASG: Whichever way, cess, duty, custom, all of the co related items have been waived off with regards to duty & cess & they have been put into priority.

Justice Sanghi (to Mehra): You can make a portal on your website which enables the people who want to send critical things COVID from outside at a particular address. You can also appoint a nodal officer to take care of the same.

The matter will now be heard tomorrow ie on April 30, 2021.