The Delhi High Court on Tuesday expressed unhappiness over the incident relating to the assault of doctors and staff in Apollo Hospital and said that "such incidents are bound to demoralise the medical community which is serving tirelessly to save the lives of people".
A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said that it expects incidents like the assault on doctors and staff in Apollo Hospital would not be repeated. The court asked the authorities and police to be vigilant to prevent any untoward incident.
"Such incidents are bound to demoralise the medical community which is serving tirelessly to save the lives of people without any rest or break," the court said.
It also noted that Delhi has not received the allocated quantity of oxygen for a single day and the prime reason is the distance.
The court asked amicus curiae to study the allocation order and give his suggestions, which may be communicated to the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who has agreed to get the same examined.
The court said it hopes that the Centre would look at the logistics problem relating to oxygen supply.
During the hearing, Delhi High Court also expressed its helplessness, when a lawyer told the court about the condition of his relative and demanded an ICU bed as soon as possible.
"We have sympathy with you. What should we do if the hospital does not have ICU beds," it said.
The counsel appearing for the concerned hospital told the court that it was trying its best to shift that patient in ICU. "But currently we don't have even one ICU bed in hospital," the counsel said.
Managing Director of Batra Hospital raised several grievances due to "short supply of oxygen" and made some suggestions.
"Why don't you have your own oxygen plants," the court asked and pointed to deficiency in infrastructure by the government as well as the private sector.
The court asked Delhi Government to explore taking assistance from the armed forces as they also have good number of doctors and medical staff which can be used. The suggestion was made by a Senior Advocate.
The court appointed Senior Advocate Rajashekar Rao as amicus in the matter.
The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Rakesh Malhotra on various issues arising out of the rise in COVID-19 cases in the national capital. The matter was disposed of on January 14 but after COVID-19 saw an unprecedented surge, the court revived the petition last week.
( With inputs from ANI )
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