As India continues to be in the grip of the COVID-19 second wave, the allocation of oxygen continues to be the major point of tension between Centre and States. On Friday, overruling pleas by the Centre, the Supreme Court Friday declined to interfere with a Karnataka High Court direction asking the Central Government to increase daily allocation of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) for the state from 962 metric tonnes (MT) to 1,200 MT for a short period to tide over an acute shortage.

With Karnataka fast emerging as the country’s new Covid hotspot and cases spiking daily, a Bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said the Karnataka High Court’s order on May 5 is “well considered and well calibrated”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represents the Centre which has challenged the HC order, said the issue was not about the supply of oxygen to Karnataka. “The Centre is not and cannot be averse to that. I am only sharing a concern about a national problem... If every HC starts ‘judiciously’ examining what amount of oxygen should be supplied, etc, where would it lead to..". The Centre and State should decide the allocation of oxygen, he argued.

The court responded that it had already directed, while hearing another plea on oxygen supply to Delhi that there will be an allocation committee for supply of oxygen to States equitably and as per their individual needs, but that did not mean the High Courts will “shut their eyes” to the issues till then.

On the same day, the Supreme Court had to take a rather more adversarial stand with regard to the oxygen supply for Delhi, saying it ‘meant business’ about the Centre’s obligation to supply 700 MT of oxygen to the capital and warned that it may have to take coercive action if the order was not complied with. That the supply of oxygen during this deadly pandemic has become mired in legal tussles between the Centre and States is cause for concern with the crisis centres swiftly moving from Delhi to other states. The setting up of a committee and an ascertaining of a formula for allocation is needed on an exigent basis. That marks this story out as our top pick of the day.
 

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