Supreme Court adjourns Nimisha Priya case sine die

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) adjourned petitions filed on behalf of Nimisha Priya — a nurse from Kerala incarcerated and facing execution in Yemen for the murder of a local man — sine die until any fresh development comes up.

A Bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath was told by Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee said there has been no fresh progress to report to the court.

Senior advocate Raghenth Basant and advocate Subhash Chandran, appearing for the family of the nurse, also sought an adjournment while noting that the interventions of the Supreme Court has helped to save the life of the nurse.

The Bench kept the case pending without giving a future date of hearing, saying the petitions would be listed if an application is filed in the future signalling any new turn of events concerning the nurse.

In October last year, the court had been informed that a new mediator had stepped in to facilitate discussions with the victim’s family members for payment of blood money, permissible under Sharia law, in return for a pardon.

The execution, which had been reportedly slated for July 16, 2025 had been postponed following diplomatic interventions by the Indian government and efforts by Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, a prominent Kerala-based Islamic scholar.

Ms. Nimisha Priya, who hails from Palakkad district, was sentenced to death by a Yemeni trial court in 2020 for the murder of her Yemeni business partner. Her appeals were subsequently dismissed by the appellate courts in Yemen.

“Her only child, a 12-year-old girl, is living in a convent. Her mother is a domestic helper in Ernakulam and her husband is an autorickshaw driver,” a petition on her behalf had stated.