Oxygen Hoarding Case: Can you pick people over your failures, Delhi Court asks police

A Delhi Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the city police after it failed to answer questions posed to it regarding the offences made out against Matrix Cellular CEO Gaurav Khanna in the Khan Market oxygen racket case.

"Can you pick people if govt or state hasn't completed its responsibilities," said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Arun Kumar Garg while also questioning that can the prosecution make someone guilty of offences which is no offence just to remain in good books?

The tough words came in after Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava failed to clarify the court as to how the violation under section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act was carried out by the accused.

The court also advised the prosecution that emotions shall be kept aside while dealing with such matters. "For an offence, you're curtailing someone's liberty and this is the reason courts are functioning during the pandemic. We all have lost someone and the general public is dying but this doesn't mean you can put people behind bars...emotions have to been kept aside," said the judge.

The observations were made while the court was hearing the bail application filed by Khanna, the CEO of Matrix Cellular. 

The court has now reserved its order on the said bail application and certain other pleas in the Oxygen Concentrators hoarding and black marketing case and the same would be pronounced on Tuesday. 

Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, Trideep Pais along with Advocate Samudra Sarangi and Vineet Malhotra represented the accused persons, while Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava represented the Delhi Police.