Remains of Hindu man buried as Muslim in Saudi Arabia brought back to India: Centre to Delhi HC
New Delhi, May 12: The remains of a Hindu man who was buried in Saudi Arabia according to Muslim rites has been brought back to India and are in transit to his family, the Centre informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.
Justice Prathiba M Singh was told by central government standing counsel Ripudaman Bhardwaj that the remains arrived in India on Wednesday morning and were in transit to the family in Una in Himachal Pradesh.
The court said it was a "great relief" that the family has received the remains so that they can cremate it according to Hindu rites.
It expressed its gratitude to the Saudi authorities and also its appreciation for the efforts made by Vishnu Kumar Sharma the Director of Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) Division in the Ministry of External Affairs for bringing back the remains.
Sharma also told the court that the deceased's family had received on May 7 the payment sent by his employer.
The court also appreciated the efforts of the amicus curiae Farrukh Khan and advocate Subhash Chandran KR, who represented the deceased's widow, and expressed hope that such a thing "never happens again".
With these observations, the court disposed of the plea moved by deceased Sanjeev Kumar's widow seeking his remains to perform the last rites here.
The widow, Anju Sharma, in her plea, had said that on getting the news of her husband's death, the family had requested the authorities to repatriate the mortal remains.
Sanjeev Kumar, 51, died on January 24 in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, due to cardiac arrest and his mortal remains were kept at a hospital there.
"Shockingly, on February 18, the petitioner 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.
"The officials in Indian Consulate explained that it was due to a mistake committed by the official translator of the Indian Consulate, Jeddah, who wrongly mentioned his religion as 'Muslim' in the death certificate.
"They also shared a letter of an apology tendered by the official translating agency of Indian Consulate in Jeddah with the petitioner herein," claimed the petition, filed through advocate Yogamaya M G.
The plea had also said that neither the woman, nor any of the family members gave consent to bury Kumar's body in Saudi Arabia.
Thereafter, the woman had requested the officials of Indian Consulate in Jeddah to ask the local authorities there to exhume the mortal remains of her husband so that they can be transported to India for performing last rites as per the faith of the family.
"Unfortunately, even after seven weeks of the death of the husband of petitioner, the authorities have failed to do necessary formalities to repatriate the mortal remains of Sanjeev Kumar to India for performing last rites," the plea had said.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
