NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Delhi high court that the Indian embassy in Indonesia is actively assisting three Indian nationals from Tamil Nadu who were sentenced to death for drug smuggling, including by providing legal aid and pursuing appeal remedies.
The three men, Raju Muthukumaran, Selvadurai Dinakaran, and Govindasamy Vimalkandhan, were arrested in July 2024 for allegedly smuggling 106 kilograms of crystal meth aboard the Legend Aquarius cargo vessel.
On April 25 this year, a court in Tanjung Balai Karimun sentenced them to death under Indonesia’s narcotics law.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the Centre’s counsel told Justice Sachin Datta that consular access had already been granted and the embassy was in contact with Indonesian authorities since July 2024. The lawyer added that the embassy is in the process of engaging a legal representative to file an appeal. “The vice consul has already submitted an ‘intent to appeal’ as the families could not do so. The formal appeal will be filed in a few days,” he said.
The high court was hearing a petition filed by the spouses of the three men, who urged the government to ensure immediate and effective legal assistance, citing the limited time window for filing appeals in Indonesia. They also said their husbands were working for a Singapore-based shipping company and were the sole earners in their households.
The court directed the Centre to submit a status report and listed the matter for further hearing on August 4.