The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to decide the representation of the plea related to 227 Indian and Afghan Nationals of Indian origin – Hindus, Sikhs stranded in Afghanistan, as per law.
New Delhi [India] : A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti directed the Centre to decide the representation according to law, rules, regulations and government policies. With these directions, the Court disposed of Public Interest Litigation relating to 227 Indian nationals and Afghan nationals of Indian origin who are Hindus and Sikhs by religion stranded in Afghanistan and who are constantly and almost daily facing threats to their lives and properties at the hands of the Taliban. The petitioner had sought urgent relief for their evacuation, issuance of e-visa and safe return to India. However, the Court expressed its doubt about the facts mentioned in the case and asked the petitioner where he got information related to stranded people. The petitioner told the Court that the source of the knowledge of the facts are stranded Indian and Afghan people, a non government organisation named India world forum, among others. Advocate Amit Mahajan, Central Government standing counsel, told the court that the Centre has have made efforts to evacuate them and it does not want to disclose the details of those stranded to the petitioner. The petition has been filed by Parminder Pal Singh through advocate Gurinder Pal Singh. The petitioner is a social activist and former spokesman of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee. The petitioner told the Court that a representation was made to the respondents by the Presidents of Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Karte Parwan Kabul (Afghanistan) and Asamai Mandir for issuance of e-visa and early evacuation of the stranded people but to no avail. The petitioner has sought urgent intervention of the Delhi High Court saying that stranded persons are constantly and almost daily facing threats to their lives and properties at the hands of the Taliban and unfortunately, till date, the Government of India has not taken any steps to provide any assistance to them in the matter of their evacuation, repatriation from Afghanistan to India. The petitioner has sought direction to the Government to issue e-visa to the ‘stranded persons’ at the earliest and without loss of any further time and to facilitate the evacuation of all the 227 stranded persons from Afghanistan to India by way of chartered, special flight(s) currently operating out of Kabul, Afghanistan and/or through any other mode. The petitioner has also sought direction to the respondents to take up the matter with their concerned counterpart and International agencies at the highest level for safe return, travel of stranded persons to India and provide security to them till their evacuation. The petitioner said that the stranded persons are constantly and almost daily facing threats to their lives and properties and are spending each minute in a state of extreme fear, tension and anxiety and yet, unfortunately till date, the Government of India has not taken any steps to provide any assistance of any type whatsoever to them in the matter of their evacuation/repatriation from Afghanistan to India. “The long ordeal and waiting for grant of e-visa and lack of evacuation flights have taken a toll on both mental and physical well-being of these stranded persons,” the petitioner said.
