Supreme Court praises Centre on evacuation of stranded Indian Shia pilgrims from Iran

The Supreme Court has praised the Centre for bringing back 750 Indian Shia pilgrims stranded at Qom, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, and asked to evacuate “at an appropriate stage” 250 more of them, who have tested positive for the virus. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah said: “We expect that the issue of repatriation of these pilgrims be actively considered by the Union Government at the appropriate stages in terms of the assurance provided in the status report. The proactive steps taken by the Indian Embassy in Iran under the auspices of the Ministry of External Affairs need to be commended.” The Centre on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court it has already facilitated the return of 1,142 Indians — 787 pilgrims, 219 students, 136 others “under intense operational constraints after restrictions were instituted for public health reasons in Iran, where it was difficult to organize transport, accommodation and other logistics”. The report said 750 persons out of the batch of 1,000 Shia pilgrims who had proceeded to Qom have been brought back to India. The Centre said 250 pilgrims, who are presently in Qom, have either tested positive for Covid-19 or are relatives of those persons who have voluntarily decided to stay back in Qom, together with those who had tested positive.

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