CJI Ramana in UAE, holds talks on issues concerning Indian expats

Abu Dhabi/New Delhi, March 17 (UNI) Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, who is visiting the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday held talks with the UAE Justice Minister and the head of the Emirates Supreme Court on issues concerning Indian expatriates there and for closer judicial cooperation between the two nations.
CJI Ramana, accompanied by Indian Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir and Justice Hima Kohli, held a meeting with the UAE Minister of Justice Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, President of the Federal Supreme Court Mohd. Hamad Al Badi, and Supreme Court Judge Abdul Rahman Al Balushi on issues concerning Indian expatriates.
This is the first ever visit by the CJI to the UAE.
The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said in tweets:
“Amb “@sunjaysudhir accompanied Hon. Chief Justice of India Shri N V Ramana in his meeting with HE Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, UAE Minister of Justice, and HE Mohd. Hamad Al Badi, President of the UAE Federal Supreme Court.@MOJ_UAE
“This is the first ever visit by the CJI to the UAE.
“In the presence of Hon. Justice Smt. Hima Kohli, and HE Judge Abdul Rahman Al Balushi @MOJ_UAE , issues concering Indian expatriates in the UAE and closer judicial cooperation between India and UAE were discussed. The historic visit by CJI will boost the India-UAE shared vision.”
Later, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and SC Justice Hima Kohli were felicitated by the Indian Community in the UAE at the Indian Cultural and Social Centre, Abu Dhabi.
Indian Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir, in his remarks at the ceremony, said that CJI Ramana is the first CJI who has made an official visit to the UAE, “so in that sense you’re witnessing history being made”.
CJI Ramana, in his remarks, said that he had a meeting with the UAE Law Minster and other dignitaries.
He said India and the UAE have bilateral agreements regarding extradition, execution of decrees and mutual legal assistance. “Today we discussed some issues which are bothering the law minister and the ambassador.”
“There are around 175 people whose extradition orders are pending and when the Ambassador brought it to notice we represented it to the UAE Law Ministry to look into this and try to expedite these extradition orders,” he said.
“There are 105 transfer of sentence orders and that too will be expedited. One more request was of access to visit Indians in prisons. These are humanitarian issues which we need to take care,” he added.
“After this are judgments regarding the workmen who were terminated and those verdicts are not being implemented. They said they will review the numbers given every six months.”
“In family courts, we’ve seen legislations were made by the UAE government to protect traditional laws of Indians who are non- Muslims so that they can follow their laws. They have agreed for this and it seems they have created some courts,” he said.
One of the difficulties, he said is that there are not enough interpreters. “They’ll say they’ll take care so people who don’t understand Arabic can use interpreters,” he added.
“The UAE Minister has promised the issues will be taken care of. I appreciate the Ambassador’s hard work and sincerity,” he added.
He said that India and the UAE share strong friendly ties and that the two nations have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.
“One of the major reasons for strong ties between the two nations is that Indians constitute one of the strongest ethnic groups. Nearly 3.5 million Indians are living here comprising 30% of the total population. Indians have contributed to development of the UAE over the years,” he added.
He also said that suggestions could be made to the organisations like the Indian Culture Centre to think of creating a legal assistance centre to help those in need of legal assistance in India.