NEW DELHI, Nov 17: The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to take a decision within a week on the request from the mother of imprisoned Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya for permission to travel to Yemen.
Priya’s mother approached the Delhi High Court earlier this year, seeking permission to travel to Yemen in view of the travel ban imposed by the Indian government for Indian nationals in 2017 owing to the ongoing civil war in the Arab nation. The Kerala nurse’s mother reportedly wants to travel to Yemen to negotiate “blood money” (compensation) with the family of slain Talal Abdo Mahadi to secure her release.
The Supreme Court of Yemen has rejected an appeal against the death sentence of Nimisha Priya who has been imprisoned in the country since 2017 for the murder of Mahadi, a Yemeni national. Priya was convicted of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi after she injected him with sedatives in an attempt to retrieve her passport from his possession.
The petitioner, represented by lawyer Subash Chandaran KR, had previously implored the court that the only way to save her daughter lies in direct negotiations with the victim’s family, a process that necessitates her physical presence in Yemen. However, the existing travel ban for Indian nationals stands as a barrier.
On Thursday, the Centre’s lawyer informed the high court that under a recently issued notification, the travel ban to Yemen may be relaxed, allowing Indian nationals to visit the country for specific reasons and limited durations.
“In view of the representation, let the present petition be treated as a representation. Respondent is directed to decide the representation within one week from today,” Justice Subramonium Prasad ordered.
The “Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council,” a group advocating for Priya’s release, approached the high court in 2022, imploring the Centre to “facilitate diplomatic interventions as well as negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of Nimisha Priya to save her life by paying blood money in accordance with the law of the land in a time-bound manner.” However, the high court refused to issue an order to the Centre to negotiate the “blood money” to save Priya but asked it to pursue legal measures against her conviction.
(Manas Dasgupta)