The Delhi High Court on October 27 asked the authorities to decide the representation given a man seeking to facilitate evacuation of over 200 Indian nationals and Afghan nationals of Indian origin who are Hindus and Sikhs by religion stranded in Afghanistan.
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A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said questioned the petitioner Parminder Pal Singh, former spokesperson and media advisor of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, on how he got details of Indians who are claimed to be stranded in Afghanistan and faced threats at the hands of Taliban.
When Mr. Singh’s counsel said they were in constant touch with those Indians stranded in Afghanistan, the high court said, "We have a doubt about this fact.”
Central Government standing counsel told the high court that the it has made all efforts to evacuate the Indians stranded in Afghanistan.
Mr. Singh in his petition has sought direction to issue e-visa to the ‘stranded persons’ whose names are on the list and to facilitate their evacuation through chartered or special flights.
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The petition claimed 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. “Yet, unfortunately till date, the government of India and more particularly the respondents have 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 plea said.
“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,” it added.
