Actor Celina Jaitly has expressed deep gratitude after the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in connection with her brother, Major (Retd.) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, who has been detained in the UAE since 2024. Celina has now made an emotional appeal to the Government of India to help bring her brother back home.
‘This has been the darkest time of my life’
Speaking to Republic World, an emotional Celina described her brother as a “born patriot” and a “fourth-generation armed forces officer.” She recalled his commitment to the nation, saying:“He is a patriot, a born patriot. Even though he was inducted into MCTE (Military College of Technical Engineering), he decided to change his arm and become a paratrooper. My brother has injuries on his body from so many missions. He’s broken in places that people would not know, from all the missions he’s conducted.”She went on to share the anguish of the past 14 months, “As a sister, this has been one of the darkest times of my life… at par, if not worse, than losing my parents and my son. I had many questions—why this happened, where he was during the abduction—but now I just want him back. I’m very worried about his mental health. He was abducted for eight months, and I don’t know what was done to him.”Celina revealed that she only recently obtained his detainee number and has little information about the charges or investigations surrounding his detention.“I don’t know what they are investigating. They’re investigating something, I guess. I have no answers, sir. I just have a detainee number, which we came to know about only after he was moved to this detention center a few months ago,” she said. She added, “I can only appeal to my government. I’m not Celina Jaitly right now. I’m just a soldier’s sister. He has served our nation with great honor, and I know the government will stand by him. Please bring my soldier back to me. He is all I have.”
Delhi High Court intervenes
Celina had earlier approached the Delhi High Court, seeking legal and medical assistance for her brother from Indian authorities. Responding to her plea, the High Court issued a notice to the Central government, directing it to file a status report within four weeks.The court also ordered the appointment of a nodal officer to track the status of Major Jaitly’s situation and facilitate communication between him and his family. The matter has been listed for further hearing on December 4.Advocates Raghav Kacker and Madhav Agarwal appeared on Celina’s behalf. The actor’s petition claims that her brother was abducted and detained in Abu Dhabi and has been held for over 14 months without access to proper legal or medical assistance.
‘These steps will go a long way in strengthening ties between India and UAE’
Advocate Raghav Kacker, speaking to ANI, said, “A nodal officer has been appointed to help the petitioner and her brother communicate, to provide effective legal assistance, and to keep us updated on the case status. These steps will go a long way in strengthening ties between the UAE and India. He was a special forces officer, and the government is going to issue a status report outlining the steps to be taken.”He added that details about Major Jaitly’s detention remain unclear, and the legal team is awaiting official updates from authorities.
