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Actress Celina Jaitly’s brother detained in UAE for a year, Delhi HC directs Centre to provide him legal aid

Major (retd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly has been in detention in the UAE over an alleged “national security case” since September 2024.

Celina JaitlyCelina Jaitly (Source: Instagram/Celina Jaitly)

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Centre to take steps to provide effective legal representation to actress Celina Jaitly’s brother, Major (retd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, who has been in detention in the UAE over an alleged “national security case” since September last year.

Seeking a response from the Centre on Celina’s petition, Justice Sachin Datta also directed that an attempt shall be made to ensure contact between the actress and her brother, with Celina highlighting that she is his “sole surviving immediate blood relative”.

The court has also directed for appointment of a nodal officer to liaise with the UAE authorities.

Celina, represented by advocates Raghav Kacker, Ribhav Pande and Madhav Aggarwal, had moved the Delhi HC with a petition claiming that her brother was illegally abducted and detained in UAE on September 6, 2024.

She claimed that for the past year, she has failed to secure basic information about her brother, including his welfare and legal status, despite repeated requests and representations to the Indian authorities.

On Monday, the Centre’s counsel told the HC that Vikrant has been arrested “for a national security-related case in UAE” and that the Indian authorities have been in correspondence with his wife and has provided him with consular access. Celina’s counsel, however, indicated that Vikrant is estranged from his wife.

Vikrant had been living in UAE since 2016 and was employed with Matiti Group, which is engaged in trading, consultancy and risk-management services.

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Celina has submitted that over the course of the year, Vikrant was granted only four consular visits — in May, June, August and September this year. She further submitted in her plea that she only got to know about Vikrant’s detention three weeks after his abduction, from his wife.

Celina has submitted that Vikrant has been “subjected to severe mental anguish on account of his prolonged detention for over one year” and is “currently facing cognitive decline and other serious medical issues which are being left to deteriorate”.

Celina, in her petition, sought the court’s intervention to provide effective legal representation, securing necessary legal expenses, and directing the Indian authorities to facilitate contact and real-time communication with her brother.

The court has now kept the matter for consideration on December 6.

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

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