HC dismisses plea calling Army to set up field hosps in Delhi

New Delhi: Observing that calling in the Army to set up field hospitals in the capital would lead to the Covid-19 pandemic "spreading like wildfire" among the forces, the Delhi High Court on Friday refused to entertain a submission by a lawyer asking for the Army to step in when the same has been done in another state.

A division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli stated that the armed forces will have to remain in readiness to serve their existing duty for which they have been raised, adding that they are already doing enough.

During the hearing, advocate Aditya N Prasad told the court that he had seen in a news channel that the Army was setting up a 500-bed hospital in Patna and questioned why can't the same be done in the capital. 'They said they cannot deploy...if they have operational readiness to do it in Bihar, I do not know what was the reason to not do it in Delhi," Prasad submitted.

To this, the court said, "There might be logistical issues...they said they are doing enough…let's not take it further".

"They (Army) are adding 900 beds in Delhi," Advocate Nidhi Mohan Parashar, for the Centre, submitted.

The division bench further noted, "If this (Covid) spreads to the armed forces, do you see the problem they would land up in. Army has to be in readiness to discharge the duties they are raised for. Let's not press beyond a point".

Earlier, after the court sought a response from the Centre on whether Army can be deployed in the capital to take over its oxygen supply chain and set up a field hospital, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) declined to take such an initiative on account of its "resources being stretched". Deputy Chief Minister

Manish Sisodia too had earlier written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the

help of armed forces in managing the capital's Covid-19 situation.

The Centre told the court that the army is already running three hospitals in Delhi out of which two of them are dedicated to Covid while adding that the armed forces' assistance can be provided in transportation of oxygen cylinders, airlifting of empty oxygen containers and transportation of filled oxygen containers from industrial units.