The Centre on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that the remains of a Hindu man who was buried in Saudi Arabia according to Muslim rites has been brought back to India and are in transit to his family.
The man's mortal remains were buried "due to a mistake committed by the official translator of Indian Consulate, Jeddah, who wrongly mentioned his religion as ‘Muslim’ in the death certificate".
The court said it was a "great relief" that the family has received the remains so that they can cremate it according to Hindu rites.
Justice Prathiba M Singh was told by central government standing counsel Ripudaman Bhardwaj that the remains arrived in India on Wednesday morning and were in transit to the family in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.
It expressed its gratitude to the Saudi authorities and also its appreciation for the efforts made by Vishnu Kumar Sharma the Director of Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) Division in the Ministry of External Affairs for bringing back the remains.
Sharma also told the court that the deceased's family had received on May 7 the payment sent by his employer.
The court also appreciated the efforts of the amicus curiae Farrukh Khan and advocate Subhash Chandran KR, who represented the deceased's widow, and expressed hope that such a thing "never happens again".
With these observations, the court disposed of the plea moved by deceased Sanjeev Kumar's widow seeking his remains to perform the last rites here.
(With PTI inputs.)
