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‘Can we ask Russia to stop war’: Supreme Court on petition to evacuate Indians
The court asked attorney general KK Venugopal to “use his good office” for facilitating the movement of a batch of Indian nationals, reportedly being prevented from crossing into Romania from Ukraine for flying back home.
Observing that it cannot ask Russian president Vladimir Putin to stop the war against Ukraine, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked attorney general KK Venugopal to “use his good office” for facilitating the movement of a batch of Indian nationals, reportedly being prevented from crossing into Romania from Ukraine for flying back home.
Cognisant of its limitations in such matters, a bench led by chief justice of India NV Ramana remarked that the court is concerned about the safety of Indian students stuck in the war zone but would have to rely on steps being taken by the Union government to rescue citizens.
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“Can we ask Russia to stop the war? When this will go out, people will think what the Supreme Court of India is doing. Can I ask Russian president Vladimir Putin to stop war?” the bench asked senior counsel AM Dar, who sought the court’s urgent intervention on behalf of a girl student from Kerala who, he said, is stuck with 200 other Indian students in Ukraine.
“This is a fresh plea regarding evacuation of Indians stuck at Ukrainian border. They are in freezing temperature. There are students and most of them are girls, They have been there for six days,” Dar said.
“I read somewhere that it is being asked what is the CJI doing? Can we give a direction to stop the war? We have all the sympathy and we are also feeling bad for the students, but what can we do?” the bench, which also comprised justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli, asked Dar.
To this, Dar replied that the Indian government is focussing only on evacuation from eastern Ukraine. “More students are stranded in other parts of Ukraine. They should also be evacuated and the government should be asked to take care of them,” added the counsel.
To this, the CJI replied: “Ask which government to take care?”
Justice Ramana then had a brief conversation with the other judges on the bench after which, he told Dar that the bench would request the A-G to take note of his concerns.
Venugopal appeared before the court later in the day to argue a mining case when the bench asked him to listen to Dar’s grievances.
As Dar contended that Indian nationals are stuck at Romania’s border with Ukraine, Venugopal responded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the presidents of both Russia and Ukraine and that thousands of Indian nationals have already been evacuated. “The government of India has also sent a minister to Romania and a plane is being arranged. Why are they not crossing over is what I want to know,” he asked Dar.
Dar said that this batch of Indian nationals were being prevented from crossing the border. “This is strange. Ukraine is allowing everyone to cross over to the neighbouring countries,” responded the A-G.
At this point, the CJI intervened and told Venugopal: “There are thousands of people stuck. Thousands have come back. We cannot say no to anyone… He (Dar) will send a copy of his petition to your office. Please, look into this and use your good office to help them.”
The A-G agreed to look into the petition.
Since March 1, several Indian nationals have crossed over to Romania. Indian nationals are taking flights from Bucharest to fly back. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is one of the ministers deployed to foreign nations to coordinate the return of students stuck in Ukraine, has said in a videoconference on Wednesday that 5,000 Indians were expected to fly back home from Romania by Friday.
Also Read | Amid fresh assault by Russia, India steps up efforts to evacuate 2000 more from Ukraine
Meanwhile, another bench of the top court took note of the crisis in Ukraine when it heard a petition relating to ₹10 lakh fine on a man for furnishing false information to the concerned authorities for securing his son’s admission to a medical college in Ukraine.
Observing that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has revealed the plight of the Indian students aspiring to study medicine at a lower cost, a bench led by justice L Nageswara Rao reduced the fine from ₹10 lakh to ₹2 lakh.
“The ongoing war has been revealing to us. We have found that there are about 20,000 students undergoing medical education in Ukraine. We have found all these students are going there because the fee is less. So, we want to alter this ₹10 lakh cost...This appears to be excessive. We will reduce the cost to ₹2 lakh,” said the bench, which also included justice BR Gavai.
By an order on February 8, the bench imposed the monetary penalty on the father of the student, noting: “The practice adopted by the respondent in getting his son admitted in the medical course in a foreign University without an eligibility certificate is deprecated. Further, furnishing false information to the authorities for the purpose of issuance of eligibility certificate is an attempt to hoodwink the authorities.”
The bench will hear the petition on Friday.
