Delhi HC says it made no request to Ashoka Hotel to turn it into Covid facility

Delhi HC says it made no request to Ashoka Hotel to turn it into Covid facility

The Delhi high court on Tuesday said that it did not request the Delhi government to ask The Ashoka to turn its premises into a Covid-19 facility for Delhi high court judges and other judicial officers and their families on a priority basis.

Delhi HC says it made no request to Ashoka Hotel to turn it into Covid facility

The Delhi high court told the Delhi government that it gives a false impression that the request was made by the court. The court ordered the Delhi government to take corrective measures with regard to the order asking for requisitioning beds in The Ashoka.

"You think that when people are not able to get a bed, we will ask for 100 beds in a five-star hotel," the court said. The court also said that it gives out a wrong projection about the judiciary.

The Delhi government on Monday issued an order asking The Ashoka to convert 100 rooms of the hotel into Covid-19 care centres. The Delhi government also said that it was acting on a request from the Delhi high court. The order was issued by the sub-divisional magistrate of Chanakyapuri on Sunday and said that the facility at Ashoka Hotel will be in association with Primus Hospital.

The Delhi HC also pulled up the Delhi government over the oxygen crisis which hospitals are facing on Tuesday. It ordered the Delhi government to immediately place an officer at a said plant and also issued notices to five refillers. It asked the Delhi government to stop black marketing of oxygen cylinders and essential medical devices.