The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Indian Consulate in Indonesia to ensure that three Indian nationals facing the death penalty in that country are provided with adequate legal representation to pursue appellate remedies.
Justice Sachin Datta, hearing a petition filed by the spouses of the convicts, also issued a notice to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and directed it to take up the matter at the diplomatic level with the Indonesian authorities.
The three men — Raju Muthukumaran, Selvadurai Dinakaran, and Govindasamy Vimalkandhan — all residents of Tamil Nadu, were arrested in July 2024 for allegedly smuggling 106 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine aboard a cargo vessel named Legend Aquarius. A district court in Tanjung Balai Karimun, Indonesia, recently sentenced them to death under the country’s narcotics law.
“The Indian Consulate in Indonesia is directed to take requisite steps for the purpose of ensuring that the convicted Indian nationals are afforded adequate legal representation, and to render appropriate assistance to them for the purpose of pursuing appellate remedies,” the court said in its order.
The court further instructed authorities to facilitate communication between the convicts and their families in India, acknowledging the urgency of the matter given the stringent limitation period for filing appeals.
The petitioners argued that the men, who were working with a shipping company in Singapore, were the sole breadwinners of their families and lacked the resources to fight the case in a foreign land. They received a copy of the Indonesian court’s judgment on April 29, prompting them to urgently seek the intervention of Indian authorities.
The court has listed the matter for further hearing on May 6.
