New Delhi: The Delhi High Court moved the hearing of Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly’s brother’s detention case in the UAE to March 16. Jaitly’s brother, Maj (Rtd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, has been detained in the UAE since September 2024. Previously, the court had asked whether the Centre could facilitate an interaction between the actor and her brother.
As per the latest update, the Delhi High Court gave the Centre time to seek the cooperation of the UAE authorities in the detention case. This comes after the Centre’s counsel told Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav that the UAE authorities denied their request for consular access to Vikrant Jaitly on February 13. They added that they were waiting for another date for such a meeting.
Celina Jaitly’s brother’s case details
The counsel that appeared for the Centre asked the court for 3-4 weeks to seek cooperation from the officials in the UAE through diplomatic channels. “The prayer seems to be reasonable. Accordingly, the hearing is deferred,” said the court. Further, the court added, “It is not the case of the ministry not doing anything… After 10-15 days, nothing is going to change. The ministry says grant us 3-4 weeks so that we can do something substantial.”
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had asked the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to order Al Maree Partners, a legal firm in the UAE, to appear for Jaitly’s brother. The firm, suggested by Jaitly’s lawyer Raghav Kacker, assisted by Advocates Madhav Agrawal and Suradhish Vats, is ready to fight the case for free.
According to the petition filedby the actress, her brother has been illegally abducted and detained in the UAE since September 2024. She argued that the government had not been able to provide her with information on his welfare or legal status.