Kerala HC seeks state govt's statement on level of preparedness to deal with foreign returnees

Kerala High Court on Friday sought a statement on record from the state government on its level of preparedness to deal with the return of those stranded in foreign countries.

A Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and TR Ravi sought the response on a petition seeking repatriation for Keralites from Gulf countries and slated the matter for May 2.

"What the UK or the US does is not applicable to India. We cannot compel the Union government to violate lockdown without Kerala's preparedness on record. We are afraid that as matters now stand, it may not be proper or possible to issue a direction to Union government to repatriate citizens since the Supreme Court appears to have taken a stand against it already," the court said.

The court also asked the state government to disclose if it intends to dilute the Centre's lockdown guidelines in any manner.

Advocate Thulsi K Raj, appearing for the petitioner, said that "no one is questioning the necessity of lockdown. But Centre's policy is disproportionately affecting a section of people", to which the court replied saying "We understands that this is a human issue, but there are people stranded in India as well."

The court also observed the measures being taken by the Central government to aid Indians stranded abroad during the pandemic, including the involvement of nodal agencies.

( With inputs from ANI )

Open in app