The State government on Tuesday told the Madras High Court that the Chief Secretary had written to the Ministry of External Affairs on May 30 for increasing the number of flights operated to Tamil Nadu under the Vande Bharat mission for rescuing Indians stranded abroad due to the lockdown to fight COVID-19.
Justices R. Subbiah and Krishnan Ramasamy were told that a reminder had also been sent to the Centre early this month. The submission was made in response to a public interest litigation petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, through senior counsel P. Wilson, for early rescue of all Tamilians from foreign countries.
Additional Advocate General S.R. Rajagopal said more than 130 flights had been operated to the State so far and over 20,000 stranded Indians had been brought back from several foreign countries. He sought time for filing a short status report with detailed statistics. The judges accepted his request and adjourned the case to Thursday.
