Delhi HC directs MEA to coordinate with Saudi Mission to bring mortal remains of mistakenly buried Indian

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to coordinate with the Saudi Mission and fix a time frame for the process to exhume the mortal remains of the deceased Hindu man who was mistakenly buried in Saudi Arabia.

A bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh directed the MEA official present to visit the Saudi Mission in New Delhi and inform about the pending proceedings and hand over the copy of orders passed by the High Court.

Following the directionS of the Court, Vishnu Sharma, Director, CPV (Consular, Passport, and Visa) Division MEA today appeared in person before the Court and submitted that the Indian mission in Saudi Arabia has not given the NOC (No Objection Certificate) for local burial, and the Death Certificate was translated by the employer, not by the Indian mission. The Burial has taken place in a non-Muslim graveyard.

The MEA official also informed the court that they received Rs 4.65 lakh as compensation from the employer and the cheque will be handed over to the family.

Counsel for the Petitioner (the deceased's wife), advocate Subhash Chandran KR, contented that if the submission of MEA official is correct, it has to be taken as a serious diplomatic issue as the burial has taken place without the consent of the family and the country. He also submitted that the mistake done in the death certificate is a matter for investigation and proper actions shall be taken against erred persons.

Thereafter, the court asked about the steps taken by MEA for the repatriation of mortal remains. The MEA official informed that the Indian Mission had written a letter to Saudi authorities on February 21 for exhuming the mortal remains of deceased Sanjeev Kumar and waiting for the reply.

Advocate Subhash further submitted that Sanjeev worked 23 years in Saudi Arabia and as per the information received from the colleagues of the deceased, his family has entitled to approximately Rs 30-40 Lakhs as the end of service benefits, insurance, etc. Only the Indian mission can verify the details and help the family for getting them.

The direction of Delhi HC comes during the hearing of a plea of a widow seeking to exhume the mortal remains of her Hindu husband, who was mistaken as a Muslim and buried in Saudi Arabia. The widow has pleaded for repatriation of the mortal remains to India to conduct his last rites as per the faith of the family.

On the last date of the hearing, the court had directed MEA to file a status report with the details of steps taken towards the wife's plea.

According to the petition, the woman's husband, Sanjeev Kumar, passed away on January 24 this year at his workplace in Saudi Arabia. Kumar, an Indian citizen, worked in Saudi Arabia for 23 years and died due to diabetes, hypertension and cardiac arrest and the mortal remains were kept in Beesh General Hospital, Jizan, Saudi Arabia.

The woman told the court that on getting the information of his death, her family members had requested the concerned authority to repatriate the mortal remains.

However, on February 18, the wife was informed that the body of her husband had been buried in Saudi Arabia while the family members of the deceased were waiting for the mortal remains in India.

( With inputs from ANI )