Judges Not Living In Ivory Towers, Aware Of Covid Situation: High Court

The High Court said, "There was such a shortage of facilities including oxygen, medicines, hospital beds, oxygenated beds, ICUs, doctors and paramedical staff that there was no question of any facilities remaining unutilised."

Judges do not live in ivory towers and have seen the condition of the national capital during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi High Court Wednesday observed while disagreeing with an argument that resources of the state remained unutilised due to the exclusive reservation of facilities for COVID-19 treatment of government officials and their families. The court said that the submission of petitioner's counsel does not take into account the ground reality of the second wave of the pandemic. "There was such a shortage of facilities including oxygen, medicines, hospital beds, oxygenated beds, ICUs, doctors and paramedical staff that there was no question of any facilities remaining unutilised," a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh said. The court said when there was a massive dearth of medical infrastructure during the second wave of the pandemic, government officials were risking their lives on the streets to manage the situation.