Bringing back mortal remains allowed: MHA

DEHRADUN/NEW DELHI: A day after immigration officials at Delhi airport returned the body of Kamlesh Bhatt, a 24-year-old man who had died of a heart attack in Abu Dhabi, citing a ministry of home affairs (MHA) order that prohibited receiving of any such "cargo" from outside India, the MHA on Saturday released an office memorandum on the issue by its foreigners division (immigration section) that said “…immigration functions in respect of arrival of dead bodies and mortal remains of Indian nationals/OCI (overseas citizens of India) cardholders are permitted subject to strict adherence to guidelines/instructions issued by various ministries and government departments related with management of Covid-19 and submission of no objection/ approval/ concurrence from ministries of health & family welfare and external affairs in this regard.”
A detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) for “importation of human remains of Covid-19 patients/suspects” meant for immigration officials, was also issued.
The central government’s clarification on the issue came even as a petition was filed during the day in the Delhi high court by Bhatt’s cousin seeking repatriation of the mortal remains of his relative at the earliest. The additional solicitor general, representing the Union government, submitted in the court that “it was a unique case and the central government was in the process of framing SOPs so that in future there is no difficulty in similar matters.” The matter has now been listed for hearing on April 27.
Bhatt, who was working at a hotel in Abu Dhabi, had died on March 17. After struggling for several days to get his body repatriated amidst the ongoing lockdown, his family members based in Tehri Garhwal were eventually helped by Indian-origin social activist Roshan Raturi who arranged to send the body back to India on April 24 after getting the requisite clearances.
Bhatt’s cousin Vimlesh Bhatt, who is based in Dehradun, travelled to Delhi on Friday to receive the mortal remains but was told by immigration authorities that they had sent the body back. The family, that had completed all the preparations for the cremation, was left hanging.
Rajesh Bhatt, 19, younger brother of the deceased, told TOI over phone from his village in Tehri Garhwal that his parents are devastated. “My mother has stopped eating. We got all the passes made for the cremation and now we have been told that the body is not arriving. My brother was the backbone of the family. It is difficult to bear the trauma that even though he did so much for all of us, we aren’t able to give him a decent cremation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Raturi told TOI over phone from UAE that he will try to send the body again to India. “I just hope the government of India will help the family who only want to give a decent cremation to their son,” he said.
(With inputs from Rohan Dua)