New Delhi: Six days ahead of the scheduled execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen, the Supreme Court agreed to a hearing of a plea seeking urgent diplomatic intervention to save her.
The Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council moved India’s top court, seeking Central government intervention, and directions for facilitating payment of compensation (diyah) to the victim’s family and opening a direct channel of negotiations with them to secure their pardon for Nimisha.
On Thursday, the matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi. Agreeing that the case was important, the apex court posted the matter for hearing on July 14, directing that a copy of the plea be given to the Attorney General.
Nimisha, who has been sentenced for the murder of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mehdi, has exhausted all legal options and has just one lifeline left – pardon from the victim’s family under Yemen’s Sharia law, in exchange for blood money, or ‘diyah’.
Senior Advocate Ragenth Basant, who appeared for the petitioner, highlighted the urgency of the situation as execution date was July 16. He told the bench that the first appellate court in Yemen, while dismissing Nimisha’s appeal, kept the option of blood money open, and negotiations with the victim’s family could still save her from the gallows.
The bench suggested hearing the matter on Monday, but Advocate Basant requested an earlier listing, citing that time was required for diplomatic processes.
The 38-year-old, a nurse from Palakkad, was convicted for the murder of her business associate Talal Abdo Mahdi, and sentenced to death by a court in Sana’a in 2020. Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council upheld the sentence in November 2023. Last December, Yemen’s Rashad al-Alimi, gave final approval to the execution order.
