Stranded seafarers in Iran: HC asks Centre to provide assistance, file status report

The Delhi High Court asked the Central government to provide assistance to five Indians stranded in Iran after being implicated in a criminal case and sought a status report on the issue.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the Central government to provide assistance to five Indians stranded in Iran after being implicated in a criminal case and sought a status report on the issue. 'I'm saying do what is permissible in the rules. Whatever they are entitled to, they should get,' said Justice Rekha Palli who gave two weeks' time to the Centre to file the status report.

The court recorded the statement of Centre's counsel Harish Vaidyanathan's that the five seafarers were in touch with the officers of the Indian Mission in Iran and had also been provided with boarding and lodging facilities.

'All five have been receiving assistance from the Mission consistently and have been in touch, lodged in a hotel, and given access to a telephone,' the advocate said.

He also informed the court that the order of acquittal in the criminal case against the five seafarers has been overturned by the Supreme Court of Iran. Vaidyanatha submitted that the verdict of innocence no longer remains and whatever next step in legal recourse has to be taken, will be taken.

Advocate Gurinder Pal Singh, counsel for the family members of the five seafarers, sought legal assistance from the Indian authorities as well as issuance of a document to prove their identity as an Indian citizen.

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'We'll ask for a status report. He (Vaidyanathan) is not saying no (to assistance as per rules),' the court responded. Fathers of the five seafarers had moved the high court seeking assistance from Indian authorities and their repatriation form Iran. According to the petition, in 2019, the seafarers had begun work at a cargo vessel in Iran.

However, in February 2020, the vessel was raided by the Iranian authorities and the five Seafarers were arrested for alleged conspiracy to smuggle narcotics in the deep sea, the counsel said adding that they were acquitted by a court in Iran in March this year.

The petition informed that the Iranian authorities refused to hand over the passports of the seafarers on account of the case being referred to the Supreme Court of Iran. The petition said the five were stranded in Iran without any source of income and in their state of desperation, they even recorded a video message on July 10, 2021, requesting the Hon'ble Prime Minister to intervene in the matter.

Given their pitiable condition, the central government and the Indian Embassy in Tehran should provide legal assistance, a roof to live under and adequate monetary assistance to the Seafarers, the petition said. The matter would be heard next on October 7.

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(PTI)