The Kerala High Court on Monday listed for hearing on Wednesday a petition moved by the Kerala High Court Advocates Association seeking a directive to the Union Government to repatriate the Indian students stuck up in Ukraine due to the ongoing war between that country and Russia.
The association alleged in the petition that the Embassy in Ukraine was indifferent to the pleas of the students who are studying in that country to help them return to India. They also said that Indian students were facing discrimination by the Ukrainian Army who were firing in the air to scare away the children. The Ukrainian Army and police were spraying pepper powder on the students with the intention to neutralise them and this was happening because of the absence of Embassy Officials in the conflict zone, said the association in its petition.
They wanted the Court to issue directive to the Centre to facilitate speedy repatriation of the students stuck up in Ukraine. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine has taken the stand that unless there were any court orders directing arrangements to be made by the embassy, steps cannot be taken to facilitate the repatriation of student s from Kerala who are stranded in the war zone.
The petitioners further stated that the students were left with no means to communicate or return to the State. Justice N Nagaresh who heard the plea asked the petitioners to hand over whatever information they had about the students to the Assistant Solicitor General so that the latter could do whatever possible to facilitate their speedy
repatriation.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take whatever steps the latter could take to being the stranded students back to India.