Delhi High Court hears various pleas on Covid-19 crisis in the capital [LIVE UPDATES]

The Delhi High Court is hearing a bunch of pleas on COVID-19 management in the national capital.A Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh to hear the cases.[Live Thread from the Hearing].Govt seeks 6 weeks time. Court takes exception to govt stance "This is not acceptable. By 6 weeks this issue might not exist. Political parties have no business to turn this pandemic.. They have no business to hoard medicine while others are paying high prices".Advocate Virag Gupta says different MPs, procuring it and hoarding.Cites example of Gautam Gambhir. No action taken yet..Court says political leaders have no business to hoard stocks. If their intention is to do public good, then they should give it to DGHS and he will distribute it to the needy.How did Gautam Gambhir get such large quantities from chemist during such shortage, asks Delhi High Court..Govt says it will seize it..Court says it won't direct seizure since it is legal exercise to be carried out by police..Court asks Govt to ask leaders to correct themselves..Order: We hope and expect Delhi police to conduct proper investigation into the hoarding of medicines Status report to be filed. We hope and expect that medicines are not hoarded for political gains..We expect that these medicines be surrendered to Director General of Health Services for distribution to govt hospitals Matter to be heard next week.Citizens are suffering due to this. You owe a duty to people. This is not the way: Delhi High Court to Delhi Police..Various petitions filed by hospitals before Delhi High Court citing Oxygen shortage are being withdrawn by the hospitals since the supply has now stabilised..Delhi government counsel Rahul Mehra and other lawyers thank Delhi High Court intervention in the Oxygen matter. "Your Lordships intervention saved countless lives. My Lords sat even on Saturday and Sunday." .Fixation of price of Oxygen Concentrators It cannot be demand and supply, there has to be government intervention, there has to be a ceiling..... : Justice Singh.Landed price is ultimately determined by the exporter. It is in their hands. If Lordships are suggesting that we fix a price now, because there are diff concentrators, it is not possible....There are diff concentrators with different prices, sizes and names.... : Kirtiman Singh.Why can't you fix a formula..... : Bench There is a confusion on MRP....Prices keeps changing...by exporter : Singh This is not an answer...work around it. We can't throw our hands in the air and say it can't be fixed. How can you say MRP is not fixed : Justice Singh.People should be able to afford it, they cant be taken for a ride. Shortage cant be taken advantage of.... Should you ( government) not think of the Consumer? : Justice Vipin Sanghi.There is a global shortage.....if I fix a price today, the suppliers may not supply whatever they are supplying now : Kirtiman Singh.Monitoring is with regard to fluctuation : Kirtiman We are saying you fix the principle on which it (oxygen concentrators) will be charged, you fix the formula : Bench.We are not asking you to fix a price on Rupees and paisa...fix a formula : Bench Your lordships may give me time till tomorrow : Kirtiman.Kirtiman: Suppose I get one concentrator from America for Rs 100 and one from China for Rs 50. Then I need to fix 2 prices.....But i cannot fix two prices for the same drug....Kirtiman informs Court of an advisory informing people on minimum standards of COVID concentrators to be used in Covid care centres.....What to buy, how to use, there should be info. You should come out with these ads. Why is that not happening in these times? Why should you not use audio-visual media? : Bench.Aarogya setu app used widely now because of the Centre's wide campaigning : Kirtiman .1031 callers, we did test run today.... The people who handle calls need to be sensitized to that effect : Rao Rahul Mehra : We are giving them in house training...it is work in progress. Karuna Nundy: Status report will be submitted..Nundy: The app, delhifightscorona, the linkages have not been made. The COVID kits, the government had to consider. Bench: We have only asked them to consider, let them consider....According to medical experts, it is much better for patients, if saturations going down below 90, much better to go to hospitals than have oxygen cylinders or concentrators at home : Rahul Mehra .The numbers speak for themselves. If anyone is put on ventilators, it is less likely that they will return. I have been told something that is why I am calling for that data. The data on how many made it after placing them on ventilators is shocking. : Mehra.If this is true, you as a policymaker should decide on how many ventilators are required : Justice Vipin Sanghi.I think we can close the hearing for today. Unless there is anything urgent, we will hear the matter on Thursday : Bench.Abhay Gupta : You can make exclusions.... Prices have to be fixed, it can't be that hospitals charge whatever they want. Cites example of Kerala govt.If State of Kerala has fixed hospital charge cap, then that model may be looked into it. If it works in Kerala, then why can't it work here? Bench.You cant give a covid kit and keep charging for things.. : Justice Vipin Sanghi Rahul Mehra: Hospitals are the only institution doing business. You should cross-subsidize. You (Hospitals) should give your services for free during this time

Delhi High Court hears various pleas on Covid-19 crisis in the capital [LIVE UPDATES]

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