The Supreme Court disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) on Monday, which sought direction to the Ministry of External Affairs to formulate guidelines for the safety of Indian citizens flying abroad.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha passed the order on a petition filed by a businessman, who was wrongly detained in Abu Dhabi in October last year, for sharing the same name and date of birth as that of a wanted criminal.
The top court of the country refused to entertain the plea, stating that a citizen going to a foreign nation was governed by the law of that country.
While agreeing that the petitioner should not have been detained, the Apex Court said that it could not direct the Ministry to have any such guidelines for safe and secure visit of Indians to other countries.
The Bench noted that even if it agreed to the plea, it could not direct the police of another country not to arrest the citizens of India.
Filed through Advocate Rajeev Sharma, the petition by Greater Noida resident Praveen Kumar contended that while was en route to Switzerland with his wife, he was kept in custody by the United Arab Emirates authorities for four days.
The matter became clear to the authorities in Abu Dhabi only once he was produced before a Magistrate. Kumar said that apart from his name, all other details mentioned by the UAE authorities were incorrect.
(Case title: Praveen Kumar vs Union of India and ors)