NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) to assist a man seeking to bring back the mortal remains of his son who succumbed to COVID-19 infection in Jordan in November.
DIAL’s counsel told the high court that it never had any objections on the repatriation of the body.
Justice Navin Chawla then disposed of the petition saying it stands satisfied.
“For ensuring that there is no further difficulty faced by the petitioner (man) in complying with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the counsel for the respondent no.1 (DIAL) shall inform the counsel for the petitioner about the officer with whom the petitioner can get in touch with so that all the formalities are completed in time,” the court said.
DIAL was represented through advocate Anirudh Bakhru.
Petitioner Jahiruddin said his 26-year-old son Abdul Kalam, a migrant labour, died on November 4 at his workplace in Jordan due to COVID-19.
Advocate Subhash Chandran PR, representing the petitioner, sought the court’s direction to DIAL to permit repatriation of his son’s body in accordance with the SOP issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Following the intervention of International Labour Organization (ILO), Jordan office, and the Embassy of India at Jordan, the employer has agreed to meet the expenses for sending the mortal remains of Kalam to India, the plea said.
Thereafter, the Embassy of India has completed the formalities for repatriation of human remains and Emirates Airline has agreed to carry the dead body from Amman to Delhi airport, it said.
According to the petition, Lawyers Beyond Borders (LBB) India, an international organization advocating for the rights of migrants, made arrangements for receiving, transporting and cremation of the COVID-19 positive body with the help of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal (SBS Foundation, Delhi) as per the request of ILO and the Indian Embassy at Jordan.
It also said that unfortunately even after completion of most of the formalities, Embassy of India informed the petitioner that DIAL authorities have objected to sending the body to Delhi airport.
“It is pertinent to mention that staffers at Delhi airport need not to handle the dead body of Abdul Kalam at all as SBS Foundation has already given undertaking to the concerned authorities for receiving, handling and transportation of the COVID-19 positive body of son of the petitioner.
“All they need to do is to issue entry passes to 4-5 volunteers from SBS Foundation along with a hearse van / ambulance for receiving the body from airport / cargo / receiving point at Delhi airport,” the plea said.