Delhi High Court Closes Celina Jaitly’s Petition On Her Brother’s Detention In UAE ; Asks Centre To Continue Providing Legal Assistance To Retired Major

Picture Credit : @CelinaJaitly/X

The Delhi high court has  closed proceedings on actor Celina Jaitly’s petition on her brother Vikrant Jaitly’s detention in the UAE and asked the Centre to continue to provide legal assistance to the retired major.

Observing that the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has met Vikrant Jaitly nine times since his arrest, and the detainee has conveyed that decisions on his legal representation has to be made by his wife and not sister, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked the petitioner’s counsel, “What right do you have now?”

“It has come on record that the respondent (Ministry of External Affairs) is in active contact with Mr Jaitly. It also appears that consular access has been granted to Mr Jaitly. Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has interacted (with him) nine times,” the court said.

“There is no reason to keep the writ petition pending. It is accordingly disposed of. The respondent shall continue to remain in touch with Mr Jaitly and provide all legal representation as may be available in law,” the order said.

It also clarified that Vikrant Jaitly’s well-being should be taken care of by the Indian authorities.

The high court was hearing a petition by Celina Jaitly seeking effective legal representation for her brother who had been “illegally abducted and detained” in the UAE since September 6, 2024.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma tendered certain information to the court in a sealed cover and stated that in the latest consular meeting on February 18, Vikrant Jailty took a clear stand that he did not wish to be represented by any firm and turned down his sister’s suggestion to take pro bono services of a UAE-based firm.