The Delhi High Court’s order to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) directing adequate legal representation for Major (Retd.) Vikrant Jaitly, the brother of actress Celina Jaitly, has brought the spotlight on the former Army official, who has been in detention for over 14 months.
Celina approached the court with a petition stating her brother was abducted and detained in the UAE for over a year. She sought directions to ensure that he receives legal representation, medical care, and the diplomatic assistance of the MEA.
Major Jaitly had served in the Indian Army and on a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. After leaving the Armed Forces, Major Jaitly had been residing in the UAE since 2016. He was reportedly employed with the MATITI Group, engaged in trading, consultancy, and risk management services.
He was reportedly abducted from a mall in the presence of his wife, though her petition did not mention how he ended up in police custody. All her petition said was that he was arrested in connection with “a case”. Celina also informed the court that she lodged a complaint on the government's ‘MADAD Portal’ (Online Consular Services Management System) but received no update. She had also approached the Indian Embassy in the UAE, but in vain.
However, the Centre’s counsel, Nidhi Raman, told the Delhi High Court that Vikrant had been granted consular access in the UAE.
This isn’t the first time that Major Vikrant has grabbed headlines. In 2008, Celina had spoken about how Vikrant, who was then working in the army cantonment in Madhya Pradesh, was injured in a road accident, but lay unattended for 25 minutes. The actress, in an emotional outburst, spoke about how Vikrant could have died on the road as he lay unattended on a pool of blood for 25 minutes while people simply stood and stared.”
