SC Seeks Centre's Reply On Plea To Bring Back Indians Stranded In USA Amid COVID-19

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of Central Government on a plea seeking repatriation of Indian citizens stranded in United States of America due to COVID-19 pandemic.

While Solicitor General Tusahr Mehta referred to the general policy of the Union regarding evacuations, the Court directed him to file a US specific reply.

The Court requested him to file the reply affidavit within one week, in particular, responding to the issue of extension of visa status of Indians whose visas are about to expire, and also to address the issue regarding GOI's stand on bringing back persons in distress. The matter is directed to be listed on 20th April 2020 for further hearing.

The petition has been filed by Senior Advocate, Vibha Datta Makhija, acting on behalf of the BringIndiaHome Initiative, an initiative by Indian and American Indian lawyers to assist stranded Indian citizens to return to India.

The petition seeks the relief of directing the Government to formulate a scheme to identify Indian Nationals in distress in the US and airlift them, specially in view of the WHO travel advisory which advised nation States not to impose disproportionate and excessive travel bans.