The Centre, on Wednesday, told the Supreme Court that 250 Shia pilgrims, who have been tested positive of COVID-19, were being provided the best of facilities at Qom, the Iranian epicentre of the coronavirus spread.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to constantly monitor the situation, conduct fresh tests and look into when they can be brought back to India.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for petitioner Mustafa MH, a resident of Ladakh, asked the Court to issue orders for bringing those 250 pilgrims back as they were at the mercy of Iranian authorities and were left with no money.
Mehta, for his part, said hundreds of pilgrims have already been airlifted from Iran, including three relatives of the petitioner. He said the matter has now become ineffective, requiring no order from the Court. Mehta also pointed out all flights have been cancelled, though embassy officials were in touch with the people over there.
The Court had earlier issued a notice to the Centre on the plea for immediate evacuation of around 850 Indian Shia pilgrims from city of Qom.
The Court had also ordered providing appropriate health and medical facilities and accommodation to the stranded 850 Indians till such time the Centre was in a position to evacuate them safely back to India.
The city of Qom is considered holy by Shia Muslims and is the world’s leading centre of Shia scholarship. Much like Wuhan in China, Qom has become the Iranian epicentre of the viral outbreak.
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