Coronavirus: Delhi HC’s notice to Centre on social justice lawyer Fozia Rehman’s plea

March 6, 2020

New Delhi:The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the Centre on a plea seeking evacuation of students from Iran, which is struck by Coronavirus .

The plea was filed by Fozia Rahman, social justice lawyer, seeks court’s direction to the Ministry of External Affairs to provide special flight/aeroplane /ship/cruise to take the students stranded in Iran to India, reports Livelaw website.

The Single Bench of Justice IS Mehta has issued notice to the central government on Tuesday and will next take up the matter on March 11.

The students mainly from Kashmir have no means to returns to India as there are no flights which are going from Iran to India.

‘Several cases of infection has been detected in past few days fearing major outbreak the University has decided to close down the colleges and the hostel facilities and cancelled the exams thus students have been advised to proceed to their respective countries. The students have been trying to find a mode to travel back to India to save their lives in this extreme hazardous situation. The students are, however, shocked and surprised to know that no flights are going from Iran to India. The students are left with no means to come back to their country and unite with their families.’, the petition says.

The petition has cited the plight of these students as a violation of their Right to Life and Liberty.

The petitioner further submitted that Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation had made arrangements of special flights and safely evacuated several students who are Indian Citizens from different countries like China, Japan and Italy.

India News Stream adds: However, the External Affairs Ministry has said that a team was already reaching Iran to put up the systems in place, so that the Indian nationals who are stranded and who are in those certain vulnerable regions can be tested, and those who clear the test can be brought back.

On the issue of not bringing Indians from Iran immediately, as done in the case of Wuhan in China, he said , Wuhan was a confined territory where there were no flights operating, and the city was basically locked down.

”In this present situation, you know, we have Indians all over the world, you have Indians in Italy, in US and in each country you have a sick situation and you have a case of COVID-19, now where you have commercial flights which are already operating. So there is a difference, you know, between the two situations.

–India News Stream