The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Monday a plea urging the Union government to take diplomatic steps to prevent the execution of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen, PTI reported.
Her execution is reportedly scheduled for July 16.
The petitioner’s counsel, however, requested an earlier hearing, contending that if the case is taken up on Monday, just two days before the scheduled execution, it would leave little time for diplomatic efforts.
He urged the court to list the matter on Thursday or Friday, Live Law reported.
The plea, filed by the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council, a citizen-led initiative advocating for her release, was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that under the Islamic Sharia law, there is a provision for release if the victim’s family accepts “blood money”, or the amount paid in compensation to the family of a person who has been killed.
The petitioner urged that diplomatic efforts should be pursued in the matter.
The bench directed the counsel to provide a copy of the petition to the attorney general, PTI reported.
Priya, from Kerala’s Palakkad, was imprisoned in Yemen for the alleged murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi in July 2017.
In 2020, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in the capital Sanaa. Her appeal was rejected by the Yemeni Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. However, it kept open the option of paying “blood money”.
On December 30, news reports claimed that Al-Alimi, who is the chairperson of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, had approved the death sentence handed to Priya.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs had said on December 31 that it was aware of the situation and was extending help to Priya and her family in the matter.
Priya’s mother has been negotiating with Mehdi’s family to secure a waiver of the death sentence.
Priya went to Yemen in 2008 to help her parents, who were daily wage labourers. She worked at hospitals in Yemen before starting her clinic in 2015.
Differences came up between Priya and Mehdi, her business partner, after she questioned him about the alleged embezzlement of funds, her family has claimed.
Priya’s mother alleged in a plea that Mehdi tortured her daughter under the influence of drugs for years and held her at gunpoint several times. The plea also alleged that Mehdi confiscated Priya’s passport so that she could not leave the country.
Mehdi died from an overdose of sedatives Priya allegedly injected him with during an attempt to retrieve her passport.
Kerala MPs urge Centre to intervene
Kerala MPs K Radhakrishnan and John Brittas on Wednesday called on the Union government to intervene in the matter through high-level diplomatic efforts, The News Minute reported.
The legislators from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) sent letters to the Union government, stressing the urgency of the situation following the reported approval of Priya’s execution by the Yemeni director general of prosecution.
In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Radhakrishnan said that the government should intervene to either secure Priya’s release or at least seek a commutation of her death sentence.
“Nimisha Priya’s mother and family are going through unbearable anguish and continue to pin their hopes on the intervention of the Indian government,” wrote Radhakrishnan.
Brittas, a Rajya Sabha MP, wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, requesting immediate diplomatic facilitation to help negotiate with Mehdi’s family, tribal leaders and other stakeholders in Yemen.
He emphasised that while the action council is willing to cover the full “blood money” amount, it requires government support to identify key stakeholders, finalise the required payment and ensure its safe transfer.
“As evidence of their commitment, an initial tranche of $40,000 was handed over to the government,” Brittas added. “Yet, regrettably, there has been no follow-up on the final amount required or any update on negotiation progress, resulting in critical time being lost.”
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