52 year old oxygen order

1. $~26.
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C)5226/2021
LAXMAN SINGH ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Dr. M.K. Gahlaut, Adv.
versus
UNION OF INDIATHORUGH CABINET SECRETARY & ORS.
..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Tushar Mehta, SGI, Mr. Chetan
Sharma, ASG, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG along with
Ms. Monika Arora, Mr. Amit Mahajan, Mr. Anil Soni &
Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSCs, Mr. Syed Husain Adil
Taqvi, GP, Mr. Jivesh Kr. Tiwari, Ms. Nidhi Parashar,
Mr. Kanu Aggarwal, Mr. Kritagya Kumar Kait,
Mr.Shriram Tiwary, Mr. Amit Gupta, Mr. Akshay
Gadeock, Mr. Sahaj Garg & Mr. Vinay Yadav,
Advocates for UNION OF INDIA in all the matters.
Mr. Rahul Mehra, Senior Advocate along with Mr.
Satyakam, Mr. Santosh Tripathi, SC Mr. Gautam
Narayan, Mr. Anuj Aggarwal & Mr. Anupam Srivastava,
ASCs with Mr. Aditya P. Khanna, Ms. Dacchita Sahni,
Ms. Ritika Vohra and Mr. Chaitanya Gosain, Advocates
for GNCTD in all the matters.
Mr. Rajshekhar Rao, Senior Advocate (Amicus Curiae),
Mr. Anandh Venkataramani, Mr. Vinayak Mehrotra,
Ms. Mansi Sood, Mr. Karthik Sundar, Ms. Sonal Sarda,
Mr. Areeb Y Amanullah, Advocates in all the matters.
CORAM:
HON'BLEMR. JUSTICE VIPIN SANGHI
HON'BLEMS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI
O R D E R
% 06.05.2021
Digitally Signed
By:BHUPINDER SINGH
ROHELLA
Signing Date:07.05.2021 11:38
Signature Not Verified

2. CM APPL. 16042/2021
Exemption allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
The application stands disposed of.
W.P.(C) 5226/2021
1. This petition has been preferred by Laxman Singh who is 52 years of
age. He states that he has contracted the COVID-19 Virus, and today, his
situation is that his SPO2 Level is falling below 42. He is suffering from
acute breathlessness. He has been admitted to Hardik Hospital, Budh Bazar,
Vikas Nagar, New Delhi. In his present condition, though he requires
facility of an ICU bed with Ventilator facility, the said hospital has neither.
Consequently, the petitioner has approached this Court to seek a direction to
the respondents i.e. Union of India through its concerned Ministry, GNCTD
and its concerned Departments, the National Disaster Management
Authority and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to admit the
petitioner to any Government or private hospital in Delhi with ICU bed
along with Ventilator facility.
2. Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the most
fundamental basic right i.e. the Right to Life and Liberty to every person.
The petitioner, unfortunately, has been struck with the lethal virus COVID-
19 which, as per reports, has mutated, and the present mutation i.e. the
Double Mutant is proving to be rather lethal. It is seen that the present wave
of the Pandemic is leading to inflammation of the lungs, and the same leads
to loss of breath, and onset of Pneumonia in the Lungs. In large number of
cases, the disease aggravates, and the patient requires supervision in ICU,
and eventually, may even need to be put on a Ventilator.
Digitally Signed
By:BHUPINDER SINGH
ROHELLA
Signing Date:07.05.2021 11:38
Signature Not Verified

3. 3. The obligation of the State to provide sufficient infrastructure to
protect the lives of the people cannot be understated. At the same time, one
cannot lose sight of the fact that we are faced with one in a century
Pandemic, and even the most economically and medically advanced nations
have found their infrastructure to be lacking to deal with the massive surge
of COVID-19 cases which require hospitalisation with or without ICU, and
with or without Ventilator facility.
4. The existing medical infrastructure in the State has been completely
exposed when it has been put to test. This Court cannot turn away the
petitioner by merely telling him that the State does not have the
infrastructure to deal with his condition because the ICU beds with
Ventilator are already taken by other patients. The petitioner himself states
that no ICU bed with Ventilator facility is available despite his making
enquiries in several hospitals.
5. We are sworn to protect the Fundamental Rights of the people.
Therefore, we are bound to issue a writ to the State to provide the
infrastructure to enable the petitioner to undergo the treatment that is
required to save his life. He requires an ICU Bed with Ventilator facility.
Ideally speaking, the same should be made available to him. At the same
time, we cannot lose sight of the fact that there are thousands of others, who
are afflicted by the same disease in the City and whose condition may be as
bad – if not worse, than that of the petitioner. They would have an equal
claim to secure an ICU Bed with Ventilator facility. Merely because the
petitioner has approached this Court, cannot be a reason to pass an order in
his favour so as to allow him to steal a march over others similarly situated.
The petitioner may have resources to approach this Court through counsel,
Digitally Signed
By:BHUPINDER SINGH
ROHELLA
Signing Date:07.05.2021 11:38
Signature Not Verified

4. others may not even have that facility or resources.
6. At this stage, Dr. M.K. Gahlaut states that he has filed this petition
pro-bono.
7. We, therefore, dispose of this petition with a direction to the
respondents in rem that they shall provide the facility for medical treatment
as may be required by all residents of Delhi, who are suffering from Covid-
19 disease. In case they require simple hospitalisation with medication, the
same would be provided; in case they require Oxygen support, the same
would be provided; and in case they require admission to ICU with or
without Ventilator, it shall also be the obligation of the State to provide the
same. Merely because we have passed this order in the petitioner’s writ
petition, it does not give the petitioner any right to claim any preferential
treatment since this order enures to the benefit of all those similarly situated.
8. The petition stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms.
VIPIN SANGHI, J
REKHA PALLI, J
MAY 06, 2021
B.S. Rohella
Digitally Signed
By:BHUPINDER SINGH
ROHELLA
Signing Date:07.05.2021 11:38
Signature Not Verified