NEW DELHI, March 3: With the fervent pleas of the stranded hapless Indian students being aired by the television channels and social media posts have started disturbing the people in the country, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to come to the aid of the student stuck without food, shelter, water and even money in war-ravaged Ukraine and its border.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana asked Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, the top law officer of the government, to use his good offices to tell centre to take immediate steps for evacuating the stranded students as crisis continued to deepen in Ukraine. The top court was hearing a plea from a lawyer from Kashmir who made an urgent mentioning on behalf of a girl student who, he said, was among a group of 30 stranded at the border.
“They have been prevented from crossing the border. The temperature there is –7 degrees. They are without food, water or money. Please intervene with the government to evacuate them,” the lawyer pleaded. The lawyer said the petitioner was a medical student. She was part of a group of Indian students based in Odessa, Ukraine. They were trying to get through to neighbouring Moldova, he said, referring to the petition filed three days ago in the top court.
Venugopal informed the court that the Prime Minister had already talked to the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine about the evacuation of Indian nationals. The law officer said a Minister was already in Romania, helping with the evacuation. Indian nationals who crossed the border were being given aid and evacuated via relief planes. The Attorney-General said it was “strange” that Ukraine was not allowing the students to cross the border.
“Please use your good offices and talk to the government,” the CJI addressed Venugopal, who agreed to do so. The court asked the student’s lawyer to hand over a copy of his petition to the Attorney-General.
Earlier in the day, when the lawyer urged the court to intervene with the government on behalf of the students, the Bench was initially skeptical about how the court could help in a situation happening abroad, outside its jurisdiction. “We have all sympathies. We feel for them [students]. There have been deaths, but can I give an order to the President of Russia to stop the war? The government is already doing something,” Chief Justice Ramana addressed the lawyer.
(Manas Dasgupta)
