The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed a senior Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official to be present before it after a woman approached the Court alleging that the remains of her Hindu husband, an Indian citizen, were wrongly buried in Saudi Arabia as per Muslim rites due to incorrect translation of his religion on the death certificate by Indian Consulate officials in Jeddah.
A single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh said the woman has been running from pillar to post, since the passing of her husband, and necessary steps ought to have been taken to bring back the body of the deceased to India to conduct the last rites.
The bench while fixing the matter for further hearing on March 18 directed that a senior official (not below the rank of deputy secretary) shall be present before the court on the next date.
The plea filed by Anju Sharma claimed that her husband Sanjeev Kumar passed away due to cardiac arrest in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, on January 24 this year.
She further claimed that after hearing the news, a request was made by the family members to repatriate the mortal remains.
However, on February 18, the family was informed that the body of deceased Sanjeev Kumar has been buried in Saudi Arabia while the family members were awaiting the mortal remains in India, the plea claimed.
The petitioner apprised the court that they were informed by the Indian Consulate there explained to them that an unfortunate mistake happened due to a translation error committed by the officials in Jeddah wherein the late man’s religion was translated as “Muslim”.
Read Also: Gujarat riots: Supreme Court to hear Zakia Jafri plea against SIT clean chit to Modi on April 13