The Delhi High Court heard the petition filed by actor Celina Jaitly after her brother, Major (Retd) Vikrant Jaitly, had been detained in the UAE for the past 18 months. Hearing both her side and his wife, Charul Jaitly’s side, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked the sister and sister-in-law to put their differences aside and work in ‘tandem’ to free Vikrant. Celina told the court she has been ‘stonewalled’ by Charul, while the sister-in-law stated that her life was turned into a ‘media circus’ without consent.
CGSC Nidhi Raman, who appeared for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in court, according to Bar and Bench, “Vikrant is regularly interacting; the next is on February 13. He refuses to interact with her. He interacts with wife, but she refuses signing the power of attorney. Ministry is stuck in between. We will suggest 4 names to him, and law firms suggested by wife and ask him to choose one.”
Celina Jaitly says she approached court despite marriage falling apart
Counsel for Vikrant’s wife told the court that the sister-in-law had chats with Celina, in which she was told that ‘national security of the UAE’ was involved. It was also pointed out that instead of taking help from the Embassy, the actor approached the court.
Celina, who physically appeared in court, said, “I have done everything, my marriage has fallen apart. I came before the court in 2025 because I was stonewalled by the wife. I just want help for Vikrant.” The judge asked Charul, who appeared via video call, whether she wanted Vikrant released from prison, to which she replied, “Why would a wife not want that?”
In return, she was questioned about not authorising a UAE firm to represent Vikrant, to which Charul said she’s in touch with the MAE and Embassy about it. When asked why she wouldn’t work with the actor in ‘tandem’ over this, she replied, “Without consent, our life and relationship have been made a circus, a media joke.”
Court refuses to give gag order on media
The court, however, stated that this is not a ‘family dispute’, asking her to take MEA’s help. Charul stated that she had been in touch with Celina since 2024 despite ‘strained relations’ between her and her brother. She also claimed that a law firm’s name was shared earlier today. The court requested Celina and Charul to ‘re-establish relations’ to work in tandem on freeing Vikrant. It also noted that there’s nothing to show that Charul isn’t working with Vikrant, stating that any further legal recourse depends on him.
When Charul’s counsel sought a restraint on reporting on the case, the court refused to issue a gag order on the media. It reiterated to Celina and Charul that they must not interact with the media without court permission and stated that the media may report what occurs in open court, as previously directed during the February 10 hearing. The next hearing date is February 17. On February 3, the HC had directed the MEA to issue an order to a law firm to represent Vikrant in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
