The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted one-week time to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide on the representation of a woman seeking permission to travel to Yemen for paying blood money to save her daughter from gallows in the foreign country
The single-judge bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the order on a petition filed by Premakumari, the mother of nurse Nimisha Priya, seeking directions for permitting her to travel to Yemen despite the travel ban.
Priya, a native of Kollengode in Palakkad, was working as a nurse in Yemen. She has been sentenced to death in Yemen for murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mahdi.
The counsel representing Premakumari had earlier apprised the High Court that the only way to save her daughter from the gallows was to negotiate with the family of the deceased by paying blood money. He pointed out that due to the travel ban, the petitioner was unable to travel to Yemen.
The counsel representing the Union of India today submitted that as per the gazette notification, the petitioners were supposed to apply to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that they have already made a representation on April 25, 2022.
The single-judge Bench noted that the travel ban could be relaxed by the Central government for specific and essential reasons for a limited period of time.
Mentioning Clause 3 of the Gazette Notification, the High Court observed that the present writ petition could be treated as a representation. It directed the respondents to decide on the representation within a week from today and disposed of the writ petition.
The Bench further directed the counsel for the petitioner to specify details of other members of the family, who intend to travel with the petitioner, along with a copy of the passport, within two days.
It also granted liberty to the petitioner to approach this court, in case the need arose.
Earlier in October, the Delhi High Court had directed the Centre to respond to the petition filed by Premakumari.
Last year, Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council had also approached the Court for diplomatic intervention in the case.
The Central government had then assured the Court that proactive steps will be taken to institute an appeal before the next appellate forum in accordance with the law in Yemen.
However, the Centre today informed the High Court that the mercy plea of Nimisha Priya has been dismissed by the Supreme Court of Yemen, adding that only the President of Yemen could now grant mercy to Nimisha.