Hindu man buried as Muslim in Saudi: Government plans for legal proceedings to bring back mortal remains

Indian government on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that it plans to get a power of attorney from the family of a Hindu man, who was buried in Saudi Arabia as per Muslim rites, to initiate legal proceedings there for bringing his remains back to India.

The submission on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs was made before Justice Prathiba M Singh who on April 5 had asked the government to explore alternate legal remedies available with it in the foreign land to exhume and repatriate the remains.

The court had also said that the government cannot wait endlessly to bring back the remains in view of lack of updates from the Saudi government.

On Thursday, the MEA, represented by central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj told the court that further correspondence was ongoing with the Saudi Arabian government and meetings were also scheduled with its Foreign Ministry to expedite the repatriation of the remains.

Taking note of the submissions, the court said that if nothing happens by the next date of hearing on April 15, it intends to appoint an amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.