Actor Celina Jaitly is pinning her hopes on the Delhi High Court for the release of her brother, Maj (Retd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, who has been detained under unclear circumstances in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) since September 6 last year.

Justice Sachin Datta, hearing the plea filed by Celina Jaitly through advocate Raghav Kacker on Monday, issued notice to the Ministry of External Affairs and asked officials to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate communication between the family and authorities in the UAE.

After retiring from the armed forces in 2016, Vikrant was running a cybersecurity firm in Dubai with his wife.

Narrating the details, Raghav tells us, “The incident occurred on September 6, 2024 when Vikrant went shopping with his wife Charul in Emirates Mall, Abu Dhabi. When Celina couldn’t reach her brother for 22 days, she contacted his wife who informed that he had been detained in the UAE. Charul said that they were in the parking lot where he was ‘abducted’ by two guys and later detained. Nothing has come on record till date. Charul has relocated to Bengaluru and is not responding to Celina.”

Following this, Celina approached the consulate but did not receive any response.

“Through a friend Vikrant has asked Celina to help him out. She had already been trying to get her brother, a former soldier back. A month back, we got in touch and decided to file a case in India and with the order we hope the government officials and external affairs ministry will help us as now whatever will happen will be through diplomatic channels,” tells Raghav and adds, “Never before a repatriation has happened with the UAE but we are hopeful as he is an ex-Army personnel and UN peacekeeper.”

He further adds, “A nodal officer has been appointed who will provide legal assistance and facilitate Celina’s contact with Vikrant. Then we will know the full story and based on his statement we will file a separate writ petition.”

Now, the court has asked the government to file a status report before the next hearing on December 4.

Celina has written an emotional Instagram thanking the High Court.

Meanwhile, Celina expresses her faith in the government and judiciary: “I am feeling very hopeful. I am also very grateful to Justice Sachin Datta and the Indian judiciary. I have full faith in our Government as our government has always stood firmly for our armed forces, and I believe they will once again uphold that commitment.”

She adds, “My brother suffers from lifelong injuries incurred as a Special Forces officer in the line of duty for our nation. Now, it’s time for the nation to stand behind him and bring our soldier back home safely.”