SC notice to Centre on pilgrims stuck in Iran

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL on seeking immediate evacuation of around 850 Shia pilgrims from Kargil stranded in Qom in Iran which has been badly hit by Covid-19 pandemic.

A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked the Centre to respond by Monday to the petition filed by Mustafa MH — a resident of Dras in Kargil, Ladakh — after senior advocate Sanjay Hegde submitted that the Indians stranded in Iran were faced with a grim scenario.

Arguing the matter through video-conferencing using ‘Vidyo’ App, Hedge said in view of the situation arising out of the outbreak of Covid-19, “They (Indian Shia pilgrims) are stranded in Qom, Iran without any health/medical facilities and food supplies.” Noting that the Indians have been accommodated in hotel rooms in groups of four-five, the petitioner said the situation of spread of Corona was extremely critical in Iran.

“In fact, there may be as many as 250 people within the group of the aforesaid pilgrims who could be positive for Covid. In such a situation, accommodating persons together is a serious health hazard and could lead to disastrous consequences for such pilgrims,” the petition read.

“In case, urgent help is not provided to these pilgrims, there are bound to be serious health hazards, which have started to become fatal and has resulted in the death of two pilgrims already,” the petitioner submitted.

As Hegde sought urgent humanitarian help to evacuate the Indians stranded in Iran, the top court requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist it in the matter. It also asked for an update on the issue.

This is the first time that the Supreme Court is hearing urgent matters via video conferencing with both judges and lawyers taking part in the proceedings sitting at their respective homes with the help of ‘Vidyo’ app.

Relaxes deadline for BS-IV vehicles

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday slightly relaxed the March 31 deadline for sale of BS-IV vehicles for 10 days. A Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, however, said only 10 per cent of unsold BS-IV vehicles could be sold within 10 days after the end of lockdown, except in Delhi-NCR. Maintaining that environmental concerns should be given priority, the top court made it clear that no BS-IV vehicle would be allowed to be sold in Delhi-NCR from April 1, 2020, the date from which BS-VI norms are to come into force. The BS-IV emission norms have been in force since April 2017.