New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to decide on a representation seeking permission to travel to Yemen for negotiations to stall the execution of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a plea filed by ‘Save Nimisha Priya Action Council’ seeking directions to the Union Ministry of External Affairs to use diplomatic channels to rescue the Indian national from the gallows.

Senior advocate R. Basant, representing the petitioner organisation, submitted that though Nimisha Priya’s execution, scheduled on July 16, has been temporarily halted, but they would require Centre’s permission to travel to Yemen to secure a pardon for the Indian citizen from the family of the victim, Talal Abdo Mahdi, who was allegedly murdered by her in 2017.

“Yemen is a country where not just anybody can go. There is a travel ban unless the government relaxes it. Let 2-3 members of the petitioner organisation and a representative of Kerala Islamic cleric be permitted to go to Yemen,” submitted Basant.

While declining to pass any judicial direction to the Centre, the Justice Nath-led Bench asked the petitioner to make a representation to the Union government seeking permission to travel to Yemen.

The senior counsel further urged the Union government to include its representative for negotiations with the victim’s family by payment of blood money (diya), which is traditionally demanded in the death penalty cases under Islamic law. However, Attorney General of India R. Venkataramani, the highest law officer of the Centre, expressed an inability to make any such commitment.

“We don’t want something counter-productive happening. We want this woman to come out safely,” the Attorney General said.

The matter will be heard next on August 14.

Meanwhile, Abdelfattah Mehdi, brother of the deceased, has asserted that there can be no pardon for the crime, reiterating that Nimisha Priya has to be executed.

The Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that India has been offering all possible assistance in the case and was in touch with some friendly governments to render all possible support.

“This is a very sensitive matter, and the Government of India has been offering all possible assistance in the case. We have provided legal assistance and also appointed a lawyer to assist the family. We have also arranged regular consular visits for the family, and we are in touch with both local authorities and the family members to resolve this issue,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi.

The mother of Nimisha Priya, Prema Kumari (57), has been tirelessly campaigning to secure a waiver of the death penalty. She has also travelled to Sanaa to negotiate the payment of blood money to the victim’s family. Her efforts have been supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group of NRI social workers based in Yemen.

–IANS

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