We Haven’t Learnt From Past, CJI On Evacuation
New Delhi, March 4: “It’s unfortunate we haven’t learnt from the past,” Supreme Court Chief Justice N V Ramana remarked on Friday regarding the Indian evacuation of students from Ukraine where the court was told that some 7,000 Indian students still remained to be taken out.
“We don’t have much say in this,” the Chief Justice said but underlined that there was anxiety about students who are yet to be brought home despite nine days of the Russia-Ukraine war. After Attorney General K K Venugopal informed the court that the petitioner along with a batch of others will be back in India on Friday night in a special flight, a three-judge Bench of Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna as well as Hima Kohli asked him about the numbers still stranded in Ukraine.
The court intervention followed a petition filed by Fatima Ahana, who is stuck near the Romanian border and wasn’t being allowed to pass through. Venugopal told the Supreme Court that a communication was made to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraoaditya Scindia who is in-charge of Romania. Advocate-cum-petitioner Vishal Tiwari said the main concern is of students in Kharkhiv because they were some 1,000 km away from the borders. “We know it is a sensitive issue, please don’t try to gain publicity. We have seen your earlier petition,” Ramana said. The court asked Venugopal if he had any idea about the number of Indians still in Ukraine.
“A total of 17,000 have been evacuated and the government is making all efforts to bring back every Indian from the conflict zones. We have the experience of Kuwait where we evacuated more than a lakh of people,” the official said. He said that around 7,000 students were still there “and the government is making all steps to bring them back as soon as possible”. The court fixed the matter for further hearing next Friday. “We are not passing any orders, we’re just concerned about the anxiety regarding the students,” the Bench said.
