Key Words: Justice Subramonium Prasad, Delhi High Court, Ministry of External Affairs, Russian Oil transportation
When Vikram Patel vanished around August 10, he was working on a ship transporting Russian oil to Turkey and India.
On a request to order the Indian government officials to search the Russian port of Vysotsk for Vikram Patel, who had gone missing on a ship bringing Russian oil to India and Turkey, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday served notice to the Central government.
On February 2, 2024, Justice Subramonium Prasad set the case for further consideration and ordered the government to submit its response within four weeks.
Vikram Patel (42) was traveling from Ust-Luga Anch, Russia, to Mersin, Turkey, on a ship.
According to reports, Patel vanished around August 10.
Further, Oceanonesm (the company that employs Patel) gave the wife Captain Jagdeep Kahlon’s contact information so she could get more information on search efforts. At this point, the Petitioner and her family members contacted Captain Jagdeep on a number of occasions by phone, including calls on August 11, August 12, August 13, and August 14, as well as calls up to today. Surprisingly though, she consistently got contradictory, self-defeating information on these occasions. The family sent the business numerous emails requesting updates. Since the corporation hadn’t provided a trustworthy update, the Court was informed.
The missing seaman’s wife, Kamala Patel, has filed a petition with the High Court claiming that she received a call from her husband’s employers on August 11, 2023, alerting her that he had vanished. She was informed that on August 10, Patel’s coworkers had last seen him..
The Danish authorities were investigating the incident, and the Indian government also assured the petitioner that they will soon receive a report.
She has not, however, received a response to date. The court was informed that the petitioner (Patel’s wife) and her family had searched far and low but have not discovered any information on the search for Vikram Patel.
She has thus pleaded with the Court to order the Indian government to oversee the search operations and carry out an open search.
Written by Pallavi Sethi, an intern under Legal Vidhiya
