'Decide representation for setting up commission for NRIs': HC to Centre

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Thursday asked the Centre to decide a representation sent to it in December for setting up a commission for the welfare of NRIs "as expeditiously as possible and practicable".

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh asked the central government to decide the representation sent on December 8, 2020 by the petitioner - an NRI - "in accordance with law, rules, regulations and policy applicable to the facts of the case, as expeditiously as possible and practicable".

With the observation, the court disposed of the plea seeking setting up of a commission at the national level for Non Resident Indians (NRIs).

The petition by Anisur Rehman, an NRI working in the Sultanate of Oman since 2007, had claimed that no decision has been taken till date on his representation to the central government for the commission.

The petition, filed through advocate Jose Abraham, said a "national level commission will help in streamlining all the NRI related welfare schemes on one platform", and help safeguard the interest of expatriates in a much more efficacious and effective manner.

The plea had claimed that the prevalent practice of submitting oral/written representations to consulates does not lead to speedy redressal of grievances, and a robust national NRI commission with judicial powers is necessary to safeguard welfare of NRIs, it had said.

"A commission along with a tribunal which redresses the grievances of the aggrieved expatriates is quintessential, especially in present times when innumerable expatriates will face job loss on arbitrary grounds and are facing discrimination of the kind never faced before," the petition had submitted.

It had also said that so far only three states -- Punjab, Kerala and Goa -- have constituted an NRI Commission.