Madras HC directs Centre to take a decision by tomorrow on revised allocation of 475 tonnes of oxygen to TN. Passes the order after TN Health Secretary says the revised quantum was agreed upon by the Centre but a release order issued on May 5 did not include TN. @the_hindu
TNMSC Secretary P. Umanath told the court that the reserve oxygen in TN will last only till tomorrow and that there might be a shortage from Saturday, despite the State producing 400 tonnes a day, if the Centre does not release the agreed upon revised allotment.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy order that the Centre should take a decision by tomorrow on releasing adequate amount of oxygen to TN and that there should be equitable allocation between all States.
HC adjourns suo motu COVID-19 PIL to May 12 & says it may hear early too if required. Additional Solicitor General tells Madras HC that he has informed Union Health Ministry about TN's need for oxygen. @PWilsonDMK seeks permission to move court 2morrow if oxygen is not released
Chief Justice says he is available anytime, day and night, to hear the case and that he has not moved out of Chennai even during summer vacation only to continue to monitor COVID-19 situation.
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Madras HC CJ Sanjib Banerjee & Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy commence hearing a public interest litigation petition taken up by the court suo motu to monitor COVID-19 situation. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan is present through virtual mode @THChennai
CJ wants to Health Secretary to explain deaths at Chengalpattu govt hospital yesterday.
Health Secretary says TN is facing oxygen shortage. Says Centre had initially unilaterally fixed TN quota as 280 KL though it's requirement is 400 KL. However, Centre later revised it to 470 tonnes but the revised oxygen quantity has not been released till date.
TN has been allotted 1.35,500 vials of Remdesivir between April 21 and May 9, Centre tells Madras HC. CJ wants to know by when Sterlite copper smelting plant will begin producing medical oxygen @THChennai
CJ says change of govt in TN should not lead to letting the guard down against COVID-19. Wants to know status of oxygen, drugs and vaccination by tomorrow. Says black marketing of Remdesivir is also a serious issue. Wants Health Secretary to respond by tomorrow.
CJ: Mr. Additional Solicitor General it appears lot of aid has come from various countries including small nations like Romania but they are stuck in airports. We want to know the status on that also.
Justices N. Kirubakaran & B. Pugalendhi of Madras HC say that
political parties have made people of Tamil Nadu lazy by distributing freebies such as TVs, laptops, fans & mixies instead of promising & providing basic amenities such as water, transport and health @THChennai
Judges say tax payers are mute spectators to raining freebies in the State. Observe that a day is not far when migrant workers would be owning all properties in TN and the sons of the soil would be serving under them. Laments that eng graduates in TN are employed as sweepers.
Judges pose a series of questions on electoral reforms. Want to know whether Centre proposes to bring a law on making rational promises in election manifestos and steps taken by ECI so far to scrutinize such manifestos and the action taken against political parties.
AICTE asserts before Madras HC that Anna University should have admitted 45 students in M. Tech(Biotech) & M. Tech (Computational Biology) courses before Dec 31 & nothing can be done now. @THChennai
Justice B. Pugalendhi remarks: All universities are starting new courses, Anna University is spoiling courses that are being run for last 25 years.
Special Government Pleader E. Manoharan, representing TN Govt, contends that AICTE has no role to play in admission to the two courses.
If your purpose is going to six abodes of Lord Murugan, why do you want to tour through routes where there are no Murugan temples at all, Justice M. Sathyanarayanan asks BJP counsel V. Raghavachari @THChennai
How many people are going to accompany you? How many vehicles will ply? How many above 60 years of age will be there? These are the particulars we require, says judge.
We can take cognisance of newspaper reports and photos of the number of vehicles that participated in the Yatra yesterday, adds judge.