The Supreme Court has directed the 12-member National Task Force (NTF) set up on Saturday to streamline oxygen allocation in the country to form sub-groups for each state/Union Territory to conduct an audit for determining whether the oxygen supplies allocated by the Centre are reaching the concerned state/UT.

A bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said: "The purpose of conducting audits is to ensure a measure of accountability for the proper distribution of oxygen supplies made available by the Union Government to the States/UTs." Elaborating on the terms of reference of the National Task Force, the top court said it will assess and make recommendations for the entire country based on the need for, availability and distribution of medical oxygen.