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Synopsis

In a plea filed by the mother of a Kerala woman, currently on death row in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national, the counsel appearing for the Center informed the Delhi High Court on Monday that India has no diplomatic ties with Yemen. 

At the outset, Advocate Pawan Narang, appearing for the Center, submitted, "Today, they (mother and 10-year-old child) want to go there to negotiate blood money; we don't want this to be converted into a ransom demand situation. We have no Indian presence there. They can't even contact an Indian person. The embassy over there is closed, except for 1 or 2 local clerical people sitting there just to collect letters and send them to Djibouti, where our embassy is...Our connection is with South Yemen only. This issue is in North Yemen".

Counsel for the petitioner apprised the court that there are a few families who have stayed there and are currently in India who have a valid visa and are willing to help the woman. He contended that these people are also willing to accompany the family to negotiate the blood money. 

The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad directed the counsel for the petitioner to file an affidavit of the said persons who stay in Yemen, have come to India to visit their families, and are willing to accompany the petitioner's family. 

"File the affidavits and give a copy to the Center," the court ordered. Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on December 11.

Notably, on Saturday last week, in an urgent hearing, the court sought a response from the Central government on the plea of the woman.

The petitioner is seeking facilitation of her travel to Yemen to negotiate with the victim's family for the payment of blood money, a form of compensation in cases of murder.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora presided over the special hearing, had issued notice to the central government to respond to the petition.

The government's counsel had requested time to gather instructions on the matter, expressing concerns about the risks involved in the woman's mother visiting Yemen.

Nimisha Priya, the woman in question, worked as a nurse in Yemen and was convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi in July 2017. Her mother's plea alleged that she injected Mahdi with sedatives to retrieve her passport from his possession, leading to his death from an overdose.

Despite facing a travel ban for Indian nationals to Yemen, Priya's mother moved the high court earlier this year, seeking permission to negotiate blood money to save her daughter. Her plea urged the court to direct the Union government to facilitate the travel of the petitioner, Priya's 10-year-old daughter, and two other adult family members to Yemen.

The high court was informed that Yemen's top court had dismissed Priya's appeal on November 13, and her execution could occur at any time. The petitioner clarified that she was not requesting the government to pay blood money but seeking permission to travel to Yemen for negotiations.

The Centre's counsel explained that Priya's mother was advised against traveling to Yemen due to volatile conditions, with no Indian consular services available in the country. The court inquired about the possibility of permitting the woman to fly to the nearest country if she wished to travel to Yemen at her own risk.

The court had earlier declined to direct negotiations for blood money but instructed the Centre to pursue legal remedies against Priya's conviction.

Case Title: Prema Kumar v. Union of India & Anr.