The Orissa High Court said that the right to live with human dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution extends equally to foreign nationals within India’s territorial jurisdiction, directing the Centre to ensure the disembarkation and repatriation of 23 seafarers stranded aboard an abandoned vessel at Paradip Port.
The vessel had arrived to discharge Russian crude oil. The expenses incurred can subsequently be recovered from the shipowner or its agent. Disposing of the petition, the court ordered the Centre, the Shipping Master (Mercantile Marine Department) and relevant maritime entities to immediately replace the crew, facilitate their sign-off and disembarkation, and oversee their safe return to their respective home countries within three weeks.
The Cameroon-flagged tanker has been anchored off Paradip Port since May 11 and remains under arrest in three admiralty suits before the High Court over commercial claims against its owner. Referring to Sections 304 and 311 of the Merchant Shipping Act, which deal with vessels without nationality and the Central government’s powers in respect of abandoned vessels, the court held that the Centre cannot evade its obligations when a vessel and its crew have been abandoned. Under Section 92 of the Merchant Shipping Act, the Centre is required to arrange a replacement crew when a shipowner abandons a vessel and fails to make the necessary arrangements.
Because they were not Indian citizens, while hearing a petition filed by Istyagin Evegeny Nikolaevich, a Russian national and master of the vessel MT Unity, which had been anchored at Paradip since May 11 after being arrested in connection with maritime claims, the HC held that foreign nationals could not be denied the protection of the fundamental right to life merely.
