JOIN USCoronavirus: PIL in Supreme Court seeking evacuation of Indians from US
A senior advocate has approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to evacuate distressed Indian citizens from the United States in view of a high incidence of COVID-19 cases over there.
Maintaining that they were not challenging orders of March 9 and 26 for a ban on airspace, senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija and advocate Kashish Aneja said they wanted the government to exercise its moral and legal duty on humanitarian grounds to evacuate only those Indian citizens, who approached various consulates on a case-to-case basis.
In a joint plea, the petitioners further contended action of the Indian government to only evacuate Indian citizens stranded at high-risk zones of Wuhan, Italy and Iran, was "discriminatory" against those stranded in the states of New York and California which saw "acutest effect of pandemic worldwide".
They also pointed out many Indian citizens were in the USA on a temporary visa, which might have expired or may expire in days, making them vulnerable to face panel action on being declared as "illegal immigrants".
The top court had earlier admitted similar petitions to bring back citizens from the United Kingdom and Japan, for consideration and sought a reply from the Centre.
Both the petitioners are alumni of Georgetown University Centre, Washington. Makhija's son was on optional practical training visa in San Diego. Her daughter, a student in New York, however, came back before the restrictions.