Bombay High Court Pulls Up Maharashtra Government On Remdesivir Procurement, Allocation

"Things have turned in reverse manner...instead of increasing the supply of liquid oxygen, the supply has been decreased from the normal practice of 110 metric tonnes per day to around 60 metric tonnes, the court said.

The Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Maharashtra government on Wednesday for its "extremely callous" behaviour towards the issue of procuring and allocating Remdesivir injections for COVID-19 patients and said the authorities are shirking their responsibilities. The Nagpur bench of the High Court also expressed its displeasure over reduction of supply of liquid oxygen from the Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh to Maharashtra, which has seen a huge jump in demand for the life-saving gas used to treat critical COVID-19 patients. A division bench of Justices SB Shukre and SM Modak was irked that its April 19 order, directing the state government to supply 10,000 Remdesivir vials to Nagpur, badly affected by COVID-19, on that very day, was not complied with completely. In strong remarks, the court noted that it was ashamed to be a part of this "nasty and evil society" and was unable to do anything for the coronavirus patients of Maharashtra.