COVID-19: "Crooks & Black Sheep Deriving Gains ": Patna High Court Asks State To Book Black Marketeers Of Oxygen, Drugs

The Bench of Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Mohit Kumar Shah dealt with a series of issues and accordingly issued necessary directions.

Oxygen supply

The State of Bihar submitted before the Court that the Central Government had allocated 194 MT of oxygen for the State of Bihar as against the request for allocation of 300 MT of oxygen.

It was also submitted that with the available cryogenic tankers, an effort was being made to procure liquid oxygen. It was further stated that the number of oxygen generation plants had also increased in the State of Bihar

Lastly, it was submitted that as on 26^th April 2021, the State of Bihar was not deficient in terms of availability of medical oxygen for meeting the challenge arising out of COVID-19 in its second wave.

However, noting that several complaints from various hospitals were received related to lack of supply of oxygen for treating COVID patients, the Court said, albeit tentatively, that it was difficult to accept this stand of State of Bihar for the reason that spike in the number of COVID cases in the State was admittedly exponential and unhindered.

Further, the Court directed the Government,

"To take all possible measures to procure its quota of oxygen, as allocated by the Government of India, per day so as to ensure continuous supply of oxygen in all Government and private hospitals as also to ensure that the healthcare system in the State is prepared to face the challenges in coming days."

Also noting that there was no platform made available by the State Government from where oxygen/ oxygen cylinders could be procured, the Court asked the State of Bihar to examine this aspect and inform the Court as to what steps were contemplated.

Testing capacity for COVID-19

It was submitted by the State of Bihar that there were 19 RT-PCR laboratories functional in the State of Bihar and in addition, in the district of Motihari a RT-PCR laboratory has been established, validation of which by the ICMR is underway.

It was also made known that once 18 proposes machines are installed in various laboratories in the State, the number of RT- PCR test per day would further increase by 8000-10000.

During the hearing of the proceeding, it had emerged that the result of RT-PCR tests was not being made available soon or within a reasonable time, after the samples are taken and normally it takes more than 5-6 days for sending the outcome of such tests.

The Court observed,

"Identification of a person as to whether he is suffering from COVID-19 disease or not as soon as he is infected with it is crucial not only for the individual's treatment but also to ensure that the disease is not spread among others, considering the virulent behaviour of the infection."

Further, the Additional Solicitor General for India informed the Court that a technical team had been deputed by the Central Government and was already on the job, to assess the deficiencies in the health care facilities in the State of Bihar and make suggestions.

In view of this, the Court directed that the team to examine the aforesaid aspect of RT-PCR testing and availability of other confirmatory tests for COVID-19 and to inform the Court as to how the number of tests per day can be optimized and the number of days in reporting results of COVID-19 tests can be reduced, for this Court to pass appropriate orders in this regard on the next date

Black-marketing of oxygen and other drugs relevant for treating COVID patients

At the outset, the Court noted,

"It is true that when humankind is undergoing one of the darkest periods because of an unprecedented outbreak of the pandemic, there are crooks and black sheep who attempt to derive gains through illicit means, taking advantage of the human sufferings."

Further, the Court said that if the black-marketing of oxygen/ oxygen cylinders/ drugs essential for treating COVID patients was within the knowledge of the officials of the State, the concerned officials were obligated under law to take appropriate action by the institution of cases under various statutory provisions which are in place; else they can be blamed for being party to these grave misdeeds in the wake of the challenges which the society at large is presently facing.

The Court also asked as to whether the State officials have registered any case alleging black-marketing of drugs essential for treating COVID patients.

The Court observed that it would be a grave failure on the part of the executive if no strict action is taken against those indulging in such misconducts, having criminal liability.

Offences against healthcare personnel

Regarding offences against healthcare personnel, the Court remarked,

"It is about time for the State officials to take stern action against those found to be committing offences against healthcare personnel."

Regarding the shortage of beds, the Court remarked,

"The shortage of COVID beds can be to some extent overcome by permitting the private hospitals to enhance number of beds for COVID treatment. Alternatively, applying the provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005, the State Government may requisition such private hospitals and other establishments for treatment of COVID patients in case of emergency."

Considering the grave situation prevailing in the State of Bihar, the Bench has decided to take up this matter on a day-to-day basis.