SC to hear next week plea to repatriate Indians stranded in Kuwait

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned for next week hearing on a petition seeking directions to bring back Indian citizens stranded in Kuwait amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned for next week hearing on a petition seeking directions to bring back Indian citizens stranded in Kuwait amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan adjourned the matter for next week saying the documents filed in the case are not on record.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, during the hearing, submitted before the bench that additional documents will be placed on record in a week's time stipulating the details of the individuals who are stranded in Kuwait. The bench was hearing a plea highlighting that Indians, mostly blue-collar job workers from Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country, are stranded in quarantine camps and "open spaces" in Kuwait amid the COVID-19 pandemic, awaiting repatriation to India.

The plea, filed by Velinadu Vazh Tamilar Nala Sangham, said that the pandemic may continue for an indefinite period of time and citizens cannot be left stranded in inhuman conditions in a foreign country. It sought directions from the government to make a list of stranded Indians, draw up a schedule for their repatriation. The petition further sought that government to get in touch with the Embassy in Kuwait to provide them with basic essentials and medicines. (ANI)